(Author's note. Well, first of all, all Xcom material belongs to Firaxis and 2K. As do the characters Bradford, Shen, and Vahlen. I'll have a little creative liberty with them concerning their first names and pasts, but that's as far as it goes with them. Anything else is my baby. It will have violence, bad language, suggestive scenes, and some sexual language and scenes. So if this was a movie, somewhere between PG-13 and R.)
Honor
The hanger doorsparted revealing the dark orange sky with a few fat pink, orange, red and black clouds as they lazily floated across the sky. The roar of the Skyranger, Big Sky piloted by Canadian Air Force veteran Andrew Foch slid into view and began it's long slow descent.
As the hanger doors banged shut, the Skyranger made it's about face to the growing crowd of engineers, soldiers, scientist, guards, and operators. John Bradford had his left arm around his waist and his right hand on his chin, like he normally did when he was anxious.
The craft landed as gracefully as she always did, and her rear ramp lowered almost mournfully slow. No cheering was met with the troops this time. Not after what happened. The occupants came out in varying degrees.
The first out was Stalker. Holly Jackson, UK, wearing her Archangel armor, her green ballcap, and her powerful arms with the metal markings, the reminder that she had gone through Vahlen's gene treatment, angrily threw her plasma sniper rifle aside and shouldered her way through the crowd.
The next three out were the two assault gunners, and Doc Sophie. Sophie Hill, UK, with Desperado, Anna Panagakos, Greece, both genetics, carried between them Nikolai Smirnov, Rhino, Psionic, Russia. He was painfully swearing up a storm at his left leg, the result of plasma fire and a Muton's blade, the women carried him to the waiting medics while Hill threw off her white beret and went with him as Anna turned to light a cigarette with cool steady hands.
The last two to come out was Tendai Hangana, Iris, Nigeria, her MEC's servos and gyros whirring and her massive foot falls announcing her presence. Her MEC's dark navy blue armor was blackened by plasma hits and scorch marks. In her arms, was Esteban Martinez, Hammer, Spain, or rather his body. While he was still alive, Bradford knew he wouldn't be for much longer, not with those wounds. She handed him off to more medics who were prompt
That left two vacancies. One would have been Shaojie Zhang, Chilong, a former member of the Triads of China, and one of Xcom's greatest warriors in both physical strength and Psionic power, he had volunteered in the Gallop chamber and lead the team to 'victory', the other was a Alloy Shiv, whose loss was of no great consequence.
"Panagakos, Hangana." Bradford said as the crowd began to disperse. Both women looked over at him while Hangana took off her helmet to reveal her sweat matted black hair. "The commander will want a report from both of you as to what the hell happened up there." He said and motioned for them to follow.
"Sir?" Iris said, prompting Bradford to turn around. "Would you mind if I got out of this thing first?" She asked, referring to her MEC suit.
"Yeah, Tendai. Of course." Bradford said and she stomped off to the MEC bay. "Anna. Best..." He began. He wanted to say Best get Jackson, but given her current state that was ill advised. "Never mind. We'll wait outside the Commander's office." The Greek nodded and as she straightened her brown hair back into a ponytail and slung her alloy cannon over her right shoulder and followed behind.
The halls of Xcom were still battered from the recent extraterrestrial attack, with wires and charred metal sticking out in some places. This would have been sacrilegious in the eyes of most military commanders, but commander Matthews, Xcom superior officer and the leader of mankind's defense had insisted if it wasn't a danger to passersby and if it wasn't linked to anything important it should be put off for the practical. That while not pretty by any means, it kept the unit's finances in check to more important sectors such as power, vehicle, MEC, weapon and systems maintenance, R&D, and personnel welfare, pay and food and training. The Council didn't approve of this type of behavior and some of the outside military officials, but the soldiers didn't care, as long as there were no vermin. And the research and development people were a little indignant about the workspace's condition, but they were mollified by the amount of work they had and the currency to pursue that work.
Most of this damage had come from other attacks, five in total. Three alien raids on the perimeter with a few Sectoids penetrating as a far Echo sector, one well thought out by EXALT, Xcom's now defunct rival, and a massive general attack by the aliens. The latter was the worst, as there had been well over 100 casualties, most the victims of mind control, with over three dozen dead. One of the casualties had been Matthews, but he had recovered quickly.
It was this recovery and the capture alien's raid forces leader, an Elder Ethereal, that led to Xcom's immediate counterattack. Three scouts had been obliterated, two barges, one abductor and one stealth battleship had been captured, along with numerous attacks on the survivors of downed UFOs and the seizing of numerous scout ships. It was, however, the capture of the Overseer ship was where Xcom hit pay dirt.
Tendai had led operation Spectral Crone as it had been called and it was Shaojie Zhang that had captured the Elder's most treasured object. The object that led to Xcom's construction of the Gollop Chamber.
When he appeared out of the Psi Labs, Zhang had volunteered to test the Gollop chamber's central object, and it had led to this operation. The operation that had resulted in the destruction of the alien's mothership, and the tragic death of Zhang, four Skyranger guards who were the rearguard of the team, the destruction of a single Alloy Shiv, two casualties and many hoped, the end of the First Encounter War.
Some were not so optimistic. Liesl Vahlen, Xcom's chief scientist, the colonels of Xcom, and Matthews himself all believed that until it was determined where the Ethereal threat came from, they would simply come back with another army, one that would perhaps not bother with abductions and experimentation and go forward with general war.
After waiting for Tendai, her dark skin and hair a stark contrast to her metallic body, Bradford knocked on the commander's door. "Enter." A voice came, and the three officers stepped through the threshold.
There were filing cabinets on both walls, all full to the brim with reports, requisitions, orders past, present and future, and personnel jackets. Even with a secretary it was chaotic at best. There were also the personal touches from the commander's family, home region, and previous occupation. The ones that stood out the most was the dark blue uniform neatly pressed of the US Coast Guard, a former role that been met with doubt by Xcom but results spoke volumes about Matthews abilities, the next was a black hat with the golden University of Iowa Hawkeye in the center that rested on the left side of his desk, and finally what looked like a child's stick figure drawing of a boat on the ocean and sailor on it with the words 'Uncle Joe' written sloppily under it.
Bradford was surprised to find both Doctors Shen and Vahlen here as well. Both were sitting in a pair of comfortable chairs and both nodded to the officers as they walked in. Both had likely saved Xcom more pain than it would have been able to bear with their technological advancements. The weapons, vehicles, armor, even Meld enhancements all came from their imaginations and that of their teams. Imaginations that had saved many lives in and out of the organization.
In his chair, with his young secretary-cum-orderly next to him, commander Matthews sat with his right side facing them. His hand was on his forehead by his close cropped black hair, a thick looking shadow was across his face and he looked as if he had been unwinding after holding in tension longer than he should have. His temples were splattered with grew as he looked up with them chocolate brown eyes. He had been in this room for two days know, wearing his best uniform, and what looked like his resignation papers on his desk.
"At ease." He said tiredly. "I hope nobody minds, but if this proverbial nightmare is over, I think I'll have a double of scotch. Thank you, Rebecca." He said as he took the glass of amber liquid and the secretary nodded, took the cue and walked out. Matthews sighed as he swiveled his chair to face them.
The left sleeve was neatly rolled up just past the elbow, the reminder he had been part of the attack on Xcom HQ. A plasma blast from a Muton's rifle at the wrist had destroyed everything just above the elbow, and yet he insisted on keeping like this, despite the advantages of Meld Cybernetics. He had been lucky that it had cauterized the wound shut.
"Tendai, you've been among my best soldiers, so give it to me right between the eyes." He said bluntly. "What's the bill?"
Iris was always surprised by his frankness, though she appreciated it. "Zhang, four Skyranger chiefs, one Alloy S.H.I.V, and Martinez won't make it to next Monday. They just didn't want us to get to the bridge."
"Christ." Matthews croaked and looked down. "I never gave Zhang enough credit." He said ruefully. "I was so wrong about him, but I'll see to it that he gets the Council Medal of Honor." he said. "The names of the chiefs?"
"Brown, Takada, Schaffer, and Adukwo." Panagakos answered.
"Any of them have families?" When he got no answer he turned to Bradford. "John?" Who nodded and said he would get on it immediately. "Alright ladies and gentlemen. We've taken out their suspected mothership, and killed a sizable number of their forces. Suggestions?"
Tendai leaned against the wall. "Well like you said, sir. Suspected mothership. That doesn't mean it was. For all we know the bastards have got a dozen of those things. A hundred, more?" She merely shrugged.
"I agree, commander." Liesl Vahlen chimed in finally. "From what we have seen of the Ethereals, they were not ones to gamble all on one move. They would always have a contingency of some kind in place."
Shen nodded. "With the abundance of their resources, I don't think we've even seen the full form of the monster that is the alien's army. After all, who knows how long they have been at their devilish work and how many other races they've subjugated?"
Matthews suppressed a shudder. The idea that Earth would be involved in a continuous galactic war for an unknown amount of time was not something he wanted to go to sleep thinking about. "Alright. Let's assume that these fuckin' Ethereal are simply withdrawing, giving themselves the chance to consolidate and reorganize we have to find out how long we might have until the next invasion." He said.
"Doctor Shen, I want you to get to work building more satellites and get them over as many nations as possible, even if they are not part of the organization. Also, what about those long range radars that you talking to me about?"
"The Aegis early warning system." The hard faced elderly man said with pride in his voice. "It will double if not triple the range our real time early warning systems compared to what many other space organizations have. I got the idea from an old friend of mine from the CNSA. The original idea was to use this system to detect any space debris that might get too close for comfort. The same principle can be used to detect the invaders."
"How long will it take and where do you need it placed?"
Shen grinned. "The design was nearly finished when I was enlisted into Xcom, I just need to download the schematics and it shouldn't take more than half a month to complete and perfect the design. Especially with the staff I have." He joked. When the invasion started Shen and Vahlen had only a dozen personnel apiece, now they were responsible for over 150 men and women apiece.
Shen's grin grew. "As for the second question, no place on Earth will work. The idea was to land it on the Moon's north pole. That shouldn't be too hard, considering with the additional space craft we have been given." With every ship Xcom downed, it had gone straight to Shen's Foundry people to be reversed engineered for humanity's purposes.
"Good, very good. Also if you've got the time and resources, crank out more weapons and armor for the troops. It never hurts to have spares." Matthews said to which Shen nodded. "Doctor Vahlen." He then turned to the female scientist. "First though, have you gotten any word from your family?" This was in reference to an alien terror attack in Berlin. Xcom had responded quick as lightning and had managed to reduce the civilian casualties to a minimum, but it had left Liesl on edge as she was from Berlin.
"Yes. I managed to contact my mother and sister, they're both alright." She said sounding as relieved as her commander was.
"Well, I can safely say that is a weight off many shoulders." Matthews said that had followed a massive sigh of relief. "What is the status of the prisoners we have, and how goes your advanced research?"
"Well, commander, the prisoners are behaving normally except for the Ethereal. It seems to realize that the ship has imploded and-I guess the closest words I can use to describe it are depressed and furious." She said. "Though I have given it a strict warning that if it continues it will be punished severely." She said flatly, but everyone shuddered. It was no secret Vahlen loved to interrogate any captures they brought in.
"As for my other work, I believe that Meld can be used more than just to enhance our soldiers, but also to change the very terrain of a region. Perhaps even lead to terraforming." She said excitedly. "All the areas outside our population centers can recover and even thrive better than before. Crops will grow year round and deserts will be a thing of the past." She said. "We could even begin to colonize our own system."
"It makes sense. If the aliens had brought as many supplies over as they did, I can only imagine they had designs on Earth once the war was over." Shen hypothesized and Matthews was partial to agree with.
"Can you replicate the Meld?"
"Given enough time, yes. And our elerium supplies as well." She said.
Bradford had been listening to all this with quiet interest before he finally spoke. "I like the idea of terraforming. We could be able to set up buffers between Earth and the Ethereals."
"I agree. I'll run it by the council and I'm sure they'll like the idea of a line of defenses for Earth." He said. "John? Break out the alcohol and the food. Everyone's gonna want to celebrate. Just make sure they can't get to anything that might break."
The meeting continued for about an hour before everyone was dismissed. As everyone began to file out, only Vahlen stayed behind. "Commander?" She asked as Matthews gave a sharp gasp of breath before grasping the stump of his left arm.
"It's fine. It's fine." He said reassuringly as Liesl closed the door, and locked it. "Three months and I'm still not used to the idea of random phantom pain. Vahlen smiled as she set her clip board down on the desk and approached him.
"Is that all that is bothering you, Joseph?" She asked as she stood next to his desk, her eyes watching intently as he took off his jacket to reveal his best button shirt.
"No. I...just...I just hope this war has been worth the price. 3 million civilian casualties and abductions. Three quarters of a million military and police casualties, and over 300 of our own people." He said as he slouched into his chair. "Was it worth it?"
Liesl smiled as she came around the desk and sat on his lap. Gently placing her hand on his cheek she stared at him with those deep brown eyes. "With the alternative being slavery and extinction, I believe it has been worth it, and our soldiers agree." She said and then planted her lips against his.
After a moment they parted to reveal him smiling. "That's rather inappropriate behavior, doctor."
Liesl merely grinned at him. "Oh? Perhaps we should find out just how inappropriate you and I can get?" She said and drew in for another kiss.
"Commander to the Situation Room! Commander to the Situation Room!" The P.A. blared, like it normally did when the Council was on the line.
"Duty calls." Matthew said as she got up, only to have her rear promptly slapped. The commander smiled as he quickly got his jacket back on with her help and was out the door in a flash, doctor Vahlen right behind her.
It didn't take long for the pair to reach the Situation Room. Bradford and Shen were already there and the former spoke quickly into his headset. In response, the screen changed from a global map, to a dark room with an individual sitting before them, his face obscured from view. The grand councilor.
"Commander. Let this council extend it's congratulations for defeating the alien menace. We are extremely impressed with your abilities and that of the Xcom Project. Mankind's freedom and security have been assured."
Matthews had always despised the council. Many of his soldiers had been killed or crippled for the rest of their lives because of their missions more than any other, often for little to no reward. He also questioned their motives and why it was only the richest of nations that had provided to Xcom and others were completely cut out.
Still, he kept his face impassive and his right arm behind his back. "Thank you for the praise councilor. However I must stress I believe it is too early to be celebrating a grand victory." Matthews said, trying carefully to pick his words. "History has shown when a victorious force has not dealt a decisive and long term defeat to their enemies they simply reappear a few decades later twice as dangerous. We ourselves are guilty of that when we seized their Hyperwave Relay." He added bitterly as he had half believed as Bradford had that the capture of the Sectoid Commander in the base under the Columbian jungle had been the end of the war.
"We don't know how long the Ethereals have been watching us, where they came from or if we have defeated them at all. I recommend keeping Xcom on alert and the long range telescopes searching. If only as a precaution."
The shadowy figure appeared to turn their head to the left and then to the right. Obviously discussing the suggestions to their fellow councilors. After a few moments of deliberation the grand councilor turned back to face them. "Very well commander. We trust your judgment. Take all the steps you feel appropriate and within your capacity."
Matthews nodded. He had half a mind to tell them about Vahlen's Terraforming idea, but decided to keep that on the backburner. If he had been wrong about the Ethereals he could pass it off as a recent discovery and that would mollify the governments of the world.
"Remember, We will be watching." They said ominously as they always did, and the screen faded to black.
"Alright. We'll get to work tomorrow once the headaches have worn off and the aspirin kicked in. For now let's honor those that won't be here physically. And celebrate." Matthews said and which everyone agreed.
The memorial room was lager than when it had started out. The room had been extended significantly, with the walls being filled with plaques of silver so they would last almost forever, and every plaque with a name, rank, serial number, and what they did be it soldier, engineer, scientist, or operator. The Xcom flag was over the podium which was kept. It was the original shrine to the Xcom dead. The knife Sanchez, now a colonel who now led Delta squad, jammed into the podium was still there, as were many dog tags, pictures, candles, and shot glasses. The simple reminders of friends, family really, who were now long gone.
The number had steadily increased from 18 months of war. There over 300 names in this room.
Matthews sighed as he took the shot glass filled with whisky and held it up to those that had glasses as well, those that did not drink stood by respectfully. Many glasses rose in the room.
"Tonight, we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend their families, their friends, their race, their planet, their home, and each other. Let their names be in our hearts forever." Matthews said. "To those who like myself have also sacrificed their bodies, their full humanity, and their minds. We salute you."
With that everyone drained their glasses. Within minutes, food and more alcohol was brought out, as well as instruments. It started off slowly, somber music, low chattering and enjoying the food. Then the mood lifted when everyone had ingested alcohol, began to relax and the music had higher tone to it. The sound of laughter filled the room.
Toasts of friends, comrades, to victory could be heard bouncing off the walls. As time went by, more and more people getting drunk, Matthews himself sat with Bradford and Shen as both men talked his ears off about further strategy or scientific topics. Joseph's eye however was on something else.
He watched she slowly got up and without anyone really noticing walked out of the room, a bottle of whisky in her hand. She knew his eyes were on her. He knew where she was going.
"Well gentlemen. You behave yourselves, I have a few more reports to go through. Besides, last time I drank too hard ended up doing something I don't ever want to talk about." He said about half an hour later as he got up and placed his Xcom ballcap on his head. "Have fun."
His vision a little blurred but his mind still sharp, he wouldn't have to worry about tomorrow, nor would he have to worry about forgetting tonight. Something he had no intention of doing. Slowly he made his way to his office, which also had his bedroom. Rebecca wasn't there, she was enjoying her own party with a captain from Bravo squad.
Opening the door, he couldn't help but smile. Sitting on his desk, many of the papers shoved off, was Liesl. She smiled back as she uncrossed her bare legs and stood up. Joseph closed the door and locked it. He took off his jacket and hat and threw them against the wall. "Well doctor. I suppose you're here to check up on me?" He asked as he drew closer to her.
"I am not that type of doctor, but nevertheless, perhaps I should see if anything is out of order." She said as she opened her loose lab coat, revealing a black bra and cheeksters. She grinned as she felt his hand go to her unkempt hair and gently pulled it backwards.
Despite only one arm, Liesl found he was better than men with both. As was his stamina both naturally and fueled by the alcohol. Plus, she got to be on top.
Thus ended the first night without the fear of alien reprisals. The first night without everyone being on edge. The first in 18 and a half months without being afraid.