There was some sort of deep, vague, cosmic dread settled in Mordenna's gut about today, and he just couldn't pinpoint why.
Maybe it was his pessimistic side. After they'd lost that mission to that damn Specter, things had been quiet for a bit. He'd gotten Jax's armor done, was just about done with Fal-Mai's, and he just had the second love of his life... well, enter his life. Vix had been adapting so well to life on the Avenger, even if he had to be gradually revealing more and more of how much of a bastard he was. Though she seemed to be taking everything he told her in stride, he felt like he was waiting for the bit of detail that would be too much and she would finally disown him for good. Of course, he had then taken a deep breath and reminded himself that things were most likely going to be fine—after all, no reason to be so pessimistic. Things usually trended upwards now that he was away from the Elders.
So progress was in this season, was the bottom line. Funnily enough, he was getting a bit of that progress done right now. Fal-Mai had been the first to receive an implant from Mordenna with Samhien's help—he figured it was only fitting that he be the next one at the bat. It was a damn weird sensation as it was getting grafted to his back; Samhien was quite good about being delicate and he'd applied painkillers, but occasionally the tips of his extremities would tingle like they had fallen asleep and that always sent him reeling with nervousness. Vix herself was Sammy's assistant at the moment, watching and making sure everything was getting hooked up to Mordenna's specifications.
Of course, Mordenna couldn't tolerate the silence if he could help it. So naturally, he'd launched into something that interested him. "Ok. I'm about to hit you with my next one."
"Fire away," Samhien muttered, continuing to work.
What Mordenna had been doing to ease his own mind off of the potential danger of the situation was testing how precise Samhien's lie-detecting ability was. Samhien had said at first that he didn't think it was quite accurate—but by the way things had been going, Mordenna was sure the Skirmisher was selling himself short. "Alright. Back at ADVENT, you couldn't have paid me to go out in public. They had to physically wrench me out of the door with MECs on either side of me to get me to go. Once I was there I wasn't exactly the best party guest, what with keeping my guns on me and seeking out every excuse I could to shoot them. Mostly with improvised shooting galleries with the barest hint of justification to them. I hate dressing up is half of the problem, and the other half was just hating the Elders and everything they stood for, per usual."
Samhien gently hummed, half in some sort of soft song, half in thought. "—I definitely feel as if you are lying on the 'dressing up' front, though that is because I have seen you in specifically requested clothes myself. I would think the latter half of that statement is really the reason you despised being paraded around in public. There is another lie in there, I feel..." He paused for a minute to concentrate, and even with the painkillers, the feeling of Samhien working his tools back there made Mordenna grimace. "—sorry. I... feel as if you are being truthful about the guns... but you never got a chance to actually shoot them?"
"You sell yourself way too short on how accurate you are with that," Mordenna muttered. "Yeah, you're entirely correct. I like dressing up, truth be told, and I think I look damn fancy in a suit. Mm, no, vest and tie, I kill metaphorically in those. And yeah, as much as I brought my guns with me, I—" He grunted as his arm twinged. "Do I need to stop talking for a minute?"
"Maybe," Samhien said with mild distress. "Sorry."
Mordenna took a deep breath. He was fine. It... it was bad enough, sitting here on one of the beds in the Infirmary with his shirt off, because it let Samhien and Vix—and really anyone else who wanted to wander in—see just how much Odin had beat him. Mordenna had seen it himself—he had the back scarring, yes, about as bad as Jax since it had been over such a long period of time. But... he didn't know how, but it had started to bleed onto his front. Starting where his heart was and blooming out about half a foot in each direction, uneven, the scar continued on his chest. He'd just supposed Odin had done it enough that it went all the way through—and unlike Jax, Odin fixed up any internal damage he might've caused, either afterwards or when Mordenna inevitably died next. It wasn't pretty, and he was a bit insecure about showing it off. But he wasn't insecure enough to let it get in the way of him advancing himself.
Samhien continued to work for a while, with Vix softly muttering suggestions and guidance behind him. He really hoped he wasn't subjecting Vix to something she didn't want to do when he asked her to help Samhien out in doing this. It was one of the first things he'd asked her to do in her one assignment of helping out. Nothing like seeing somebody operate on your old man's back as a bonding experience, right? He sighed gently.
"Something on your mind?"
He supposed he might as well be truthful, considering who was behind him. "Just making sure, you're alright with this, V?"
"You asked me to help and I'm happy to do it, dad." Vix was pretty chipper, all things considered. "Besides, I can only imagine things might not be going so well if I wasn't here to help, and I couldn't sit by with that thought."
Mordenna slightly nodded, mindful to not move too much. Samhien needed steadiness and concentration. No need for Mordenna to go and mess that up. He kept his silence for a moment, allowing him to work in peace. It took a little bit of waiting, but eventually the movements at his back stopped, and he could hear Samhien putting his tools away. "There. I apologize for the occasional inconvenience and long process, but your implant has been fully installed, Mordenna. Your work is as easy to operate with as ever."
Mordenna chuckled, glad he could speak freely again. "You can say that it was rough to deal with, it's alright."
"Oh, please, Hunter. I would be telling my own lies if I did that." Samhien walked into sight as he went over to the sinks, washing off his hands. "The general anesthetic should be wearing off soon enough, but the link should be ready to go by my accounts."
"Well, you know what that means." Mordenna twisted around to look at Vix. "Hook me up, daughter of mine."
"Right." Vix picked up the Specter cube on the opposite bed and Mordenna turned back around. Theoretically this should go just as Fal-Mai's hookup did—with maybe even less problems, since the nanos didn't have to be anything in specific. A few conference talks with Schro had also let him know just what he could get up to in regards to the nanomachines, so he knew what he could do. He just had to be ready for it.
Easy to say, hard to apply, he knew that. He felt the core of the cube nudge against the port on his back—and suddenly, well, it felt like he had a cube for a limb on his back. He closed his eyes and squeezed his face a little, remembering what he wanted to do here. He imagined the cube turning into—no. He imagined and felt that there was a long, prehensile tendril on his back now. Almost like a tail, but farther north than it usually was. Sure enough, the cube—which had been starting to "melt"— smoothed out and lengthened behind him. He brought it to his front to inspect it. "Well, look at me, all up a limb like some sort of android." It was still standard as for the moment, gray and sleek. His eyes shifted over to his clothes and a hand formed on the end of it, effortlessly reaching over and grabbing his shirt.
Vix watched with interest. "—you seem to already have quite the control over it."
"Mind over matter, and all that. Helps that I've got the extra mental capacity to handle it." He brought his shirt over and began to put it on. As he buttoned it up, he imagined something like a trendy scarf would be easier to deal with than a tentacle poking out from beneath his shirt. Maybe something blue, to compliment his jeans and the whole XCOM deal? In short order, the nanos fashioned themselves into just that, keeping a thin link to the core and also numbing all sensation to the "limb." Best he didn't feel a scarf, and all. "There we are. Think I can walk off casually with this—I'll feel my back again eventually, right doc?"
"Hopefully so." Samhien dried off his hands. "I trust you do not need me to recite my usual script?"
"Yeah, I've got it at this point. Shouldn't stay numb for long." Samhien measured his doses well—Mordenna could already feel sensation return to his back. As well as some soreness, but eh. All in the name of progress. If he lost his arm like Fal-Mai did there'd be no question about replacing it. "I will become a robot someday," he muttered. "The only question is when."
"... what are you talking about, dad?"
"God knows. Even then I'm sure he doesn't know the details." Mordenna slipped off of the bed. "I am a riddle wrapped in an enigma printed on the eternal question of why the Elders are b—jerks." Toning down his language around Vix had been a process, and he was mostly succeeding. Mostly. "Damn" was a word he kept. "Thanks, the both of you, by the way. I'm sure I could've done this myself but there would have been a lot more screaming and also I probably would've taken out one of my limbs."
"In the face of that as a possibility, how could I not help?" Vix bounced around to his front. She was happily displaying a little electronic smile—over the course of her time on the Avenger, she seemed to find out that facial expressions helped out a lot in socializing. "Besides, it's my job."
He chuckled, tousling her datastream. "I know, but I still appreciate you. Same goes to you, Sammy."
Samhien smiled warmly as he walked back to the two of them. "I appreciate it just as well, Mordenna. Do be easy on yourself, won't you?"
"I'll try, but you know Eliza has that mission lined up today." He cracked his knuckles. "Only a matter of time before she pulls me down there to go fight."
Vix's smile faded into expressionlessness. "... are you still sure I can't go with you?"
Mordenna's own smile fell, and he sighed. "I'm sure. Haven't even trained you on pistols yet, after all, much less gotten your weapon done." He really hadn't even gotten halfway done with it. Theory was easy to craft, but in practice, he was having a hard time balancing the Elerium, even through judicious use of heat sinks. "I don't want you out there when you can't defend yourself."
Vix clasped her hands together in front of her, wringing them a bit. "I know, but..."
Mordenna put on a smile again and patted her shoulder. "I'll be back before you know it when it happens. After I get you all trained up, I'll let you come with me. Be my spotter, yeah?" There was a part of him that wanted to keep Vix out of danger entirely, but... he knew that wouldn't eventually shake out well. He could already see her sneaking out onto the Skyranger with some gun she'd taken from the Armory to help him in the field and end up getting herself hurt. Best that he encouraged safety.
Vix nodded. "Ok. I can see the reasoning is sound. I just... right." She held her hands closer to her chest. "We should go back and put the finishing touches on Aunt Fal-Mai's armor, shouldn't we?"
"Oh, absolutely!" Mordenna clapped his hands together and looked to Samhien. "Anything else you need to do to me, doc? Or am I clear to release?"
Samhien chuckled, shaking his head. "I could not keep you here if I tried, Hunter, but you are free to leave regardless."
"Well, you're right on that front, but I'd still rather stay if there was something else to be done. Still, with that not being the case?" He clapped a hand on Vix's shoulder. "How about we—"
The door to the room opened, and Mordenna turned around. On the other side was the Raven King himself—with a surgical mask on, interestingly enough, one that looked hand-made. He invited himself in, and this time Nevermore wasn't on his shoulder, just trailing behind him as the rest of his court was visible outside, staying put for the moment. He waved to the three of them as he came in, eyes glowing as Nevermore's did. "Hello, you lot. Am I interrupting something?"
"Not at all, we were just about to leave." Mordenna pointed to his mask. "Something up?"
"Sick, yes, and definitely not wanting to spread it to my omen." The man sounded far worse than usual, and that was saying something. "I was going to see if Samhien had any antibiotics or the such."
"Well, first we'll test to see what you have, indeed." Samhien waved him over. "The two of you can exit, now."
Considering he said they were free to leave earlier, this was likely a dismissal. Mordenna nodded, taking Vix's hand as she offered it and walking out of the door. The ravens parted for them and a few even croaked greetings, which Vix cutely returned. It was off to the Workshop, then, to complete things. Of course, Mordenna couldn't help talking to himself in such a good mood. "—so this means I can't make my next set of armor airtight," he began, thinking on his nanos, "but I don't think I was going to do that anyway."
Vix had been catching onto what her dad was fond of doing, it seemed, as she followed up on his musings. "What will it manifest as in your new armor?"
"God knows," he muttered. "I'm half thinking of making it the coat for my Reaper ensemble, but I need all those damn pockets and I don't need them to be able to disappear on command."
"Maybe it could remain some sort of scarf?"
"Possibly." Mordenna went to readjust his, but then it moved to a more comfortable arrangement. "This is pretty heavy as is, not that I begrudge it. I'm practically wearing a whole Specter around my neck, so that's more my fault than anyone else's." Specters were still pretty light, of course. "I mean, it'll form into whatever I need it to when I need it, so having something casual like a scarf for a standby form makes sense. It just also happens to be fashionable."
Vix giggled. "Sometimes the simplest answer is the best one."
"Got that right. Still, makes me wonder what else I'll do for my armor." He rubbed at his mouth with his free hand, nodding to a passing engineer. "Definitely going to need a lot of support for the tactical rigging, and I'm keeping my grappling hook. Might slap on another one per an idea I had a while back. Hard to say what else I'll incorporate."
"Could you not focus on the armor, but instead the items you would be able to bring with the additional space?"
"Fair point, and I like the way you think. Could do with some proximity mines in my kit, so long as nobody else tries to fall back to my position." Even so, he couldn't count on that in the heat of a firefight. "So maybe not, regarding those. Maybe I could start carrying some extra medical supplies? After all, I'll always have the physical tools I need with my Specter support here, all I would need is the stuff that gets used up."
"Samhien won't be available for every engagement." Vix trailed her fingers along the wall. "And backup systems are always a good idea."
He nodded, smiling. "You've got a good head on your shoulders, V."
She smiled back. "You're the one who made it."
"You're the one dealing with it, after all."
In lieu of a response, Vix just laughed again, which sent Mordenna's heart soaring. God, he loved that girl like the father he was. He was glad to have her around.
They eventually reached the Workshop. Mordenna walked in, his eyes landing on Lily, tinkering with Fal-Mai's new armor. "Hey, thought I was going to be the one to add on the finishing touches."
Lily shrugged. "I figured you were out for a second, so I'd finish it up for you." She then gestured behind her, where Rodin and a few of his Archons were lounging, watching Lily work. "Also, these guys wanted to sit in on me working on something."
Mordenna gestured for her to move aside. "Just let me look at it first to make sure there's nothing additional I wanna tack on."
Lily obliged, stepping to the side. Fal-Mai's armor itself was a far more reserved affair than Jax's. Mordenna had largely stuck to the Wraith Suit design while making it, though obviously he toned down the bright glowing lines accents into far more muted blue stripes. The armor plates on the legs and left shoulder were taking inspiration from a samurai-like aesthetic, though he still kept it sensible as he did. The belt retained its ability to hold her throwing knives, and the left arm had a custom Ripjack fitted to it. He made sure the latter came as kitted out as the Skirmishers could make theirs, plus an addition or two of his own. The bottoms of the boots had retractable cleats on them—the same tech used for Jax's visor turned out to work well for other simple functions. There was no right arm to the armor, something he'd cleared by Fal-Mai. It was best she had the full range of manipulation for her prosthetic.
Still, he didn't see anything else he'd want to add. He nodded. "Alright, you can go ahead and go back to work on it. Just wanted to make sure I hadn't missed anything."
Lily rolled her eyes, picking up her tools again. "Mordenna, I think you're physically unable to miss details in engineering. The design specs for Fal-Mai's arm alone were probably larger than the documentation itself. You've got it covered."
"No harm in double-checking," he muttered, backing off to let Lily finish up. "Job ain't done until I've triple-checked everything."
In his group, Rodin chuckled. "The mentality of a fine engineer, that. I suppose we needn't worry if the Hunter ends up handling any of our projects in the Chief Engineer's stead, hm?"
"Implying I would ever worry with the quality of XCOM's engineers, my King?" The blue and silver Archon, whose name Mordenna had learned at some point was Virgil, gave a confident smile. "Their talent far surpasses many sculptors I knew—not to speak ill of them, of course."
"Zhinri would have your head for that," Rodin muttered, "even if the statement would be true."
"He never was one for criticism."
Mordenna just supposed it was another Archon the two of them knew. Still, left with relatively nothing to do, Mordenna supposed he'd have to sit back and watch Lily finish up the suit, himself. A lull came in the Archons' conversation and he idly wondered about something. "Hey, Rodin? Ever think about heading out onto the battlefield with the rest of us?"
Lily groaned. "Are you going to pile more projects onto yourself?"
"That answer will always be yes, Lily, you should know that by now. Rodin, answer the question."
Rodin laughed. "Of course! I have long been looking for an opportunity to join XCOM in their operations. Gratitude drives me, as well as my need for battle. I was hoping to bring me and mine on the next mission."
"You, definitely. Your squad?" Rodin had four other Archons with him, all looking more native than the usual ones. "Don't know if there's enough room on the Skyranger, and Firebrand has us sit down for our own safety."
He gestured grandly. "That, too, I have seen a solution to. After much discussion with her, and a few flight tests, we have determined that we can cling to the bars on the outside of the Skyranger for transport."
Metal. Mordenna snickered. "Can only imagine what that conversation had been like. Nevertheless, noted. You guys ever need any new equipment, your staves modified, whatever, you talk to me."
"The suggestion is noted, if there is enough time to equip ourselves accordingly before the next mission."
"Well, Liz is making her way over to the Gate as we speak." Mordenna shrugged. "Might not be enough time, but it'll be fun to work with you guys in the field."
Vix kicked her legs, having sat down a little earlier. "Who do you think he Commander will field?"
"Educated guess?" Mordenna sat down, rubbing his chin. "... well, us three Chosen, for one, assuming we all want to go. Jax is gonna wanna demo his armor in the field and Fal-Mai will too, so they're in, and I am as well. There's gonna be a ton of Chryssalids out there... so one of our medics. Sherry, maybe? Rodin will be considered just his own person if he can lead his Archons by himself, so that leaves two more seats open on the Skyranger if Liz wants to make use of all the extra seating. A Templar, maybe? About the only person who will go with the Warlock of that description would be Marlene, though." He half-wondered if she had seen anything about this upcoming battle. "Maybe she'll let Pattie and Benald out. Heard they're starting to make advances in their psionics." Benald himself had shown Mordenna his "party trick" of freezing his own beer in his hands. Pattie herself couldn't quite get things up to boiling, but uncomfortably hot was within her range. Mordenna didn't think psionics could do that... but psionics could apparently see into the future, grant strength, and be formed into physical weapons. Really, anything was game for those things.
"Sounds accurate to me," Lily muttered, putting one or two more finishing touches onto Fal-Mai's armor before standing up. "There. Fal-Mai's armor is finished and it'll be ready for her to go. You can call her—"
Lily was still talking, but the Commander had started speaking into his ear, so that's where all of Mordenna's attention went. "Mordenna. Mind coming over to the Bridge? We're just about there and I want to get the squad straightened out."
Mordenna pressed a finger to his ear, talking quietly, as Rodin had elected to reply in his stead. "Yeah, I'll be there in just a moment. Mind if I bring Rodin down? He's interested in leading his squad on the mission."
"Certainly, as we'll need to discuss the viability of it."
"Got it. Be there soon." By this time, the room had taken notice of his conversation, quieting down. He spread his hands out. "Duty calls. Mind coming with me, Rodin? Eliza wants to talk about you coming out onto the field."
Rodin's ensuing grin had just a little bit of bloodlust to it. "As desired! Me and mine will accompany you to the Bridge."
"Couldn't ask for a better escort," Mordenna snarked, getting up. This was going to be an interesting meeting...
It was almost time.
The squad of Mordenna, Fal-Mai, Jax, Sherry, Benald, Pattie, and Rodin and his guard were gathered in the Armory. Rodin had successfully convinced Eliza that he could lead his Archons on the field, and once he'd confirmed he'd already made sure there was a way for them to reach the battlefield without taking up all of the space on the Skyranger, the Commander had been pretty thoroughly convinced. Fal-Mai herself was wearing her new armor, and the look on her face when Mordenna had presented it to her... well, he was still cherishing it now. It certainly felt nice to make things for people and have them like them. Plus, giving her a little more protection out on the field after last time made him feel like he had a say in the matter of her being injured again.
Nevertheless, he was going through a final few cursory checks on his weapons. They were always in top shape, but it never hurt to check. Eliza was standing there as well, watching the squad prepare. Mindful that he was being watched, Mordenna took a moment to smile at Eliza. "Well? Any parting wishes of luck you'd like to get out of the way now?"
Eliza's laugh warmed his heart. "I gave all of them in the Bridge. At this point I'm just here to make sure the Archons don't get shaken off by Firebrand."
"I have confidence in our grip strength," Rodin spoke, "considering we saw to it in field trials." Rodin himself had brought out his staff—and by the way the structure of it was modified, Mordenna half-thought that the beam-like projectile they usually ran with would come out as more of a shotgun blast. "I would not have suggested the maneuver otherwise."
"I appreciate your forethought—I value that in my soldiers." Eliza clasped her hands together in front of her. "Otherwise, I don't have much else for you guys. Once the Skyranger takes off, I'll go ahead and head up to the Bridge so I can guide you on the ground." Her ensuing smile was touched with nostalgia. "I say 'guide...' I've needed to do that less and less nowadays. You guys usually have good heads on your shoulders. I'm starting to feel a little redundant."
"Please, Liz, who would be the face of the Resistance otherwise?" Mordenna slotted his sniper rifle onto his back. "I may be just as pretty a face but I doubt people are already jazzed that the Chosen are working for XCOM, regardless of our reasons."
Eliza rolled her eyes. "Most people don't even know what my face looks like, Mordenna."
"Well, the sentiment is there." Mordenna spread his hands out. "You're the one who's making all of the executive decisions, anyway. You've been keeping this ship afloat whether you'll take credit for it or not."
"Alright, alright." Eliza held her hands up. "Credit where it's due, I know I'm to blame for XCOM living for so long. Elders wouldn't be making as much of an effort to take me back if I wasn't. You just keep your head on straight down there and help out your squadmates, ok?"
Mordenna chuckled gently, seeing the Skyranger open out of the corner of his eye. "No need to ask twice. Good luck, Commander."
Eliza shook her head as he began to walk off. "I'm not the one who's gonna need it."
"Don't need luck," he called over his shoulder, "I've got skill!"
She laughed, but didn't reply otherwise. Mordenna kept walking towards the Skyranger, watching as the Archons did indeed jet up with the thrusters still in their wings, mounting their staves onto their backs and clinging onto the rails on either side of the Skyranger. Mordenna himself took his spot in the Skyranger after taking his Darklance off of his back to make sure he wouldn't be sitting against it. Time for a long trip.
Kalight knew there was trouble the instant one of the soldiers sought him out.
He knew he wasn't exactly someone that anyone would go to party with—about the only people that would go to find him would either be Benald and Pattie, or Marlene. Considering that it was Herod running towards him when he turned around to investigate the noise of rapid footfalls, that didn't bode well.
Herod stopped for a moment to catch his breath. Even as he did, he spoke. "Kalight. We—we need you in the Commons."
There could be only one reason. "—Marlene?"
Herod nodded, and that was all Kalight needed. He passed Herod and broke out into a sprint, feet pounding down the hallways. It wasn't that Marlene was in any imminent danger—but whenever she got her visions, it was a rightfully worrying sight to everyone else. Plus, she needed his secure company in the aftermath as she sorted out what she could see.
He practically slammed his hand on the pad to the door and rushed in. Marlene was easy to spot, heart wrenchingly so. Everyone had gathered in the Commons to watch the upcoming mission, and it seemed Marlene hadn't been an exception. What that meant now, however, was that she was surrounded by a ring of people with Samhien right beside her, supporting her head on his lap as she was on the ground. This seemed to be a more violent vision, with her limbs shuddering and her gauntlets involuntarily activated, shards flickering in and out as they tried to control her rampant psionics.
Kalight easily shouldered past and, in Leo's unfortunate case, shoved people aside to get through the crowd. He kneeled at Marlene's head, taking over for Samhien and cushioning her head as she shuddered. "I'm here," he muttered, knowing it was unlikely she could hear him. He did it every time regardless. "It will end soon. I'm here." Knowing there was a ring of people around him stuck with nothing to do, he looked up at them. "One of you, go get a glass of water. She'll need it for when she comes out of this." When it was Samhien himself who got up and rushed off, he moved onto his next topic. "When did this happen?"
"Barely a minute ago," came March's reply. "We were all standing here and hanging around, waiting for the mission to start, when Marlene seized up and fell against... Herod, I think?"
"That was me," Mary replied. "I was the one who had Herod go get you, because you're always with her when his happens."
"I appreciate you notifying me," he replied. Perhaps he was imagining it, but Marlene's psionics seemed to have become less frenzied when he started attending to her. "—it's a guess at how long this will be..." What somewhat scared Kalight here was the timing. It seemed the Earth had some vague control over when Marlene would receive Her prophecies, as they all usually came during the early hours of the day or later at night for the Avenger. Never midday like this. Was what She was prophesying that urgent?
Suddenly, Marlene lunged and grabbed his arms. She was still seizing, still shaking, but the grip on his sleeves was desperate. Her braids were thrashing all over the place and her gauntlets were lit up to the point where Kalight was fearing for their structural integrity. "M—mmm..." She was trying to force something out.
"Don't talk," he urged, trying to get her to let go of him. "I don't care as to how you're doing it but you need to be silent for your sake."
"M-Mord..." Despite his best efforts, he could not dislodge Marlene. "Hhh... He's..."
She groaned in pain and that was when he knew she needed to stop. "Psions, come here, I need help putting her out." Obligingly, Leo, Clint, and a few of the gathered Mystics kneeled down with him. Without their psi-amps, he would've been in more trouble if he only had one or two of them helping him—but the Mystics' powers helped the process along very nicely. As they offered their strength, he placed a gauntlet on her helmet. He wasn't as strong with the mental aspect of his psionics, he would admit, but with his helpers? "Sleep," he muttered, speaking the command into her mind as well.
He could feel Marlene resisting against them, and it seemed like some clarity was being restored even as they tried to make her slumber. "—Mordenna, he's—Odin is—you can't—"
"Sleep," he insisted. Whatever prophecy she had could wait; this wasn't urgent enough to risk her injuring herself with how she was trying to speak.
It took more struggling, but eventually Marlene's grip on his arms weakened until her own fell, and she slumped against his chest. Her psionics quieted and her gauntlets went back into their resting state. Her weighted tubes completely fell, marking a rare time when her psionics were truly quiet.
Kalight sighed. Maybe he should have let her speak, but he wasn't about to let her do it at the expense of her own health. She could've bit her tongue, damaged her muscles trying to fight her spasms, any number of things. It was best she rested, and when she woke, they could receive her prophecy then. He looked to the psions gathered around him. "Thank you all. I'll watch over her for now. Watch the mission..." Marlene's words came back to him. "And one of you go to the Commander, have her advise Mordenna to be cautious."
"I'll handle that," Arsozu muttered. "May not exactly like the guy but if the oracle's saying he's in danger, well, it's up to us to at least warn him." With that, he parted from the crowd.
He looked back down to Marlene. Though he had justifications for his actions, the doubt in his heart remained...
The cosmic dread Mordenna had felt earlier that day was only getting worse.
The squad had landed a while back, and true enough, all of the Archons had managed to stay on. A few of them were clearly excited by the experience, but that had been tempered by the long walk ahead of them. Mordenna, of course, never minded long treks. If anything, they were relaxing to go on. But... well, he couldn't deny that he was mildly nervous about what they were walking to. After all, Mordenna knew how those Gates worked. They could be pointed anywhere and be accessed by anyone on the other side, so long as their verification was valid. They probably wouldn't be able to use it—himself included—but any authorized alien on the other side? Fair game. It could be a long one if they found out where they were and just streamed reinforcements through it.
Still, that was what he had effectively infinite ammo for. As they walked, Fal-Mai had taken up a spot at the lead. Didn't take eyes like Mordenna's to see the telltale markings of Chryssalid tunnels amidst all of the Blight-afflicted flora. This place was even worse than Jax's Ascension Facility, and rightfully so. Those gates constantly outpoured psionic energy, whether they were actively transporting troops or not. The rocky hills and spruce trees had seen themselves overgrown and irradiated with the psionic leakage. Mordenna didn't feel too sorry for the troops who had to patrol it, of course. Fal-Mai was the one keeping them updated on what was ahead, though most of her reports had been Chryssalids moving about, especially underneath them. Rodin and his Archons were close to her in the front—a vanguard if those Chryssalids decided to try to hand them their asses.
Eventually, Mordenna's eyes caught something on the landscape. "Company halt," he muttered, and the rest of Menace One-Five stopped with him. There, in the glint of the sun... a few Heavy MECs, with an Andromedon with them. Seemed ADVENT weren't sparing too many of the overtly organic troops around here, and he couldn't say he blamed them. Ostensibly the Chryssalids were "fighting" for ADVENT, but in practice? Anyone was fair game if they were agitated enough. A second later, and a Specter rounded the corner. Standard fare, though he was still waiting for that one called Cocytus to show up. "Commander, enemies right at 11 o'clock, permission to set up and engage?"
"Permission granted," Eliza replied. "Though after that you should be making a beeline to the Gate. If we make ourselves known around here, it isn't a stretch to say that they'll start putting that thing to use in warding us off."
"My thoughts exactly." Menace conformed to cover in the area and Mordenna did much of the same, deploying his extra Specter limb into spider-like appendages to quietly set himself up in a tree. He sighted in on the Specter, his scope helping him locate its core at this distance. "Menace, ready to engage."
The rest of Menace sounded off their readiness, and Mordenna watched as their setup paid off. The Specter was down and two of the three MECs capitulated, leaving Menace to fight with the last MEC and a battered, but not broken Andromedon. Mordenna let himself watch the rest of the battlefield as his squad cleaned up. He was mildly paranoid, yes, but for good reason. That Gatekeeper and Specter were likely to be lurking about in the area, if their previous track record was any indication. Plus, with the sounds of fighting, that was likely to stir up the Chryssalids. Mordenna hoped to whatever god would answer him that there wasn't a hive nearby.
Well, good thing he was keeping an eye out. A Chryssalid came skittering around the corner and he quickly put a stop to that. A glance over at the squad confirmed that all they were dealing with now was the shell of the Andromedon, and that was something that Jax's minigun could handle. "Archons, Fal-Mai, Chryssalid duty. We pretty much just kicked the clown car with that opening, not like we could've avoided it."
Fal-Mai switched targets readily, whipping out her shotgun and putting a few rounds in the advancing space vermin. Rodin himself leapt over his cover, and with a flourish of his staff, artfully impaled an advancing Chryssalid. The ensuing firing of his staff confirmed Mordenna's suspicions as it was launched off of his weapon in a buckshot of plasma.
Honestly, Mordenna had to stop and watch Rodin work as they advanced. He knew he was a ruler, but he was starting to see how exactly he became king of the Archons. He was strangely graceful on his feet, pivoting and always aggressive despite his expertise in every movement. His staff was more of an extension of himself and his skill of it reminded Mordenna of how Fal-Mai maneuvered her own blade. Chryssalids kept falling at its behest and he wove in blasts of plasma within and between swipes and jabs. The display was slightly dampened by the manic grin on Rodin's face, one that was shared across his subjects as well. Wasn't hard to forget that Archons lived to fight, watching them brutalize the incoming foes.
Unlike a Berserker, however, Rodin wasn't lost in his frenzy. His head snapped to the side and with a flare of his jets, he was back in cover, just in time for some mag fire to stream past where he used to be. "Enemy squadron to our right, past that mound!" He then barked something in a language Mordenna didn't understand, which was new to him. Maybe it was Archon? Whatever the case, his guard was on him in an instant, and with some more words, a gray-skinned, gold-colored metal Archon took up the opposite position on the mound. He certainly had them well-organized.
Speaking of close-knit groups, Pattie and Benald were close together in cover of their own. Benald reloaded his rifle with his free moment. "Any psi-susceptible ones in that pod, your highness?"
"Just more blasted robots," Rodin replied.
What was about to happen next seemed to occur to Mordenna and Jax at the same time—and luckily, Jax took action on his hunch. Jax extended his gauntlets and formed an aerial shield over Menace. Just in time, as micromissiles slammed against it. Benald sighed. "Well, this is gonna suck, but I'm trying it anyway."
Pattie looked at him incredulously. "Ben, you're not gonna—"
"Not without you."
Her shock turned into a grin. "Hell yeah, at least let me make bad decisions with you!"
Benald holstered his gun, drawing his psi-amp in time with Pattie. They channeled their powers into them—and this time, Mordenna noticed some key details. Mist began to form around Benald, and Mordenna could see frost start to form over his fingertips. Heat lines rose from Pattie and it looked like embers were streaming from her psi-amp. At their powers' peak, Benald looked to Jax. "—lower the shield, boss!"
Jax complied, taking it down in time as the two of them rose, flinging their powers towards the group. Mordenna had been moving to get a better angle at the group, and now he could see the fruits of their labor. The pod had been two more MECs, another Specter, and a Codex, and he watched as the twinfold powers washed over them. The twin, twisting streams of their psionics had contacted the Specter, and the reaction was a sight to behold—ice bloomed out in jagged shards where it had hit, and the Specter was quickly frozen completely, but the process wasn't done. A spark of light flashed from the center of the ice, and suddenly, the Specter itself exploded in a hail of shards and ice. Menace quickly ducked as that happened, with Jax providing a shield once more from the debris. The rest of the enemies were buffeted by the explosion, and the Codex predictably generated another copy of itself.
"That's one way to kill a Specter," Sherry grimly mused. "I thought you two couldn't actually...?"
"N-not normally." Pattie was clearly winded, slumping back behind her cover. "Ow, my aching skull." Benald himself sunk down with her. It was hard to tell past the sunglasses and bandanna, but there was a certain pinch to his forehead that betrayed to Mordenna that he was probably in just as much pain as Pattie was.
Mordenna's eyes tracked the Codex leaping through the Void, trying to get behind him. He whipped around and blasted a pistol shot at it as it reappeared, right through its brain. It was... a little less nice to kill them now. Almost stung a bit. "Well take it easy for a bit, superheroes." Seriously. He knew Clint could detonate explosives, so he supposed this was some sort of natural evolution? Maybe? Psionics were weird.
Jax's minigun revved and suddenly one of the MECs was in a few more pieces than normal. "The rest of us may fill in your stead," he followed up, proving that point by snatching the cloned Codex out of its cover with a psionic claw and keeping it psionically grounded long enough for Sherry to score a clean hit.
A kick of Fal-Mai's shotgun, and the last of the pod went down. Mordenna didn't rest, adjusting his position to the top of the mound and checking the area out. The extra height showed him they were heading in the right direction. The Gate was a little way out, hidden naturally by the landscape even if the enormous amount of Blight was enough to give away its general location. Psionic flora had twisted around it and its emplacement, giving it the feel of being half-tech, half-plant. There seemed to be no more patrols—just some Chryssalids coming out of their burrows and heading towards their location. He sighted in and sniped one. "Liz? Visual on the target. No more guards seen at the moment, just Chryssalids."
"Shadow Chamber says as much," Lily replied. "I can kinda see the Gate through your camera. The power draw that thing must be generating..."
"Those things aren't that power-heavy, actually," Mordenna muttered, continuing to pick off Chryssalids. "They're pretty much just establishing a stable shortcut through the Void—they give off a lot of psionic radiation, but they really don't take too much power to operate. We'd be able to move it onto the ship once we shut it off, disconnect it from its grounding, and convince Jax here to haul it himself."
Jax scoffed, swapping to his rifle to let his cannon recharge. "I would be interested to see if I can manage such a feat and if that is finally something I cannot carry."
"We're about to see, I suppose." Mordenna spared a glance over to Benald and Pattie, who were still looking spent. "Sherry, keep an eye on the Twins. Rest of us are going to clean out the Chryssalids a bit more until we can actually secure the area."
"Go ahead and do that," Eliza chimed in. "Move in and secure the Gate afterwards. We'll see about—" The Commander halted for a second, stoking some worries in Mordenna. Thankfully, she went back to speaking later. "Sorry about that. Mordenna, you've been advised to be careful."
Mordenna chuckled, reloading. "Who's warning me up there, Samhien?"
"Marlene, actually."
Uh. That did not help with his sense of dread whatsoever. Mordenna's fingers stilled, but thankfully his siblings and the Archons were there to pick up the slack. "—any, uh, any specifics on that warning, Commander?"
It was another moment before Eliza replied. "Sadly not. According to Arsozu here, that was about all she'd managed to say."
Oh, Arsozu. Resident prankster of the Avenger to rival Benald and Pattie themselves. Mordenna didn't really want to dismiss the warning, considering it could be real, but the fact that Arsozu was delivering it made him a little suspicious. "I'll be as careful as I always am, Commander," he assured her. No reason to say to her face that he wasn't going to take the warning entirely seriously. Just a little bit. "The warning's noted."
There was a bit more Chryssalid extermination to be had, and soon the battlefield fell silent. As everyone reloaded, Mordenna looked to Fal-Mai, who had gotten closer to the ground, nearly resting her head on it. Once everyone finished, she spoke. "—the Chryssalids are all much farther away or not present at all," she said. "I believe we are largely safe to proceed."
"Good by me." Mordenna got off his perch as he holstered his rifle, though he commanded his extra limb to keep a hold of his pistol regardless. "I'll see what I can do about disabling the Gate—there's usually an access point right next to it."
Jax looked to him, and though his visor was deployed, Mordenna could feel the concern through it. "Are you sure you should approach it, brother?"
"No other way it's getting hacked reliably," Mordenna replied. "Just connecting an external interface runs the risk of the Elders figuring out where we are and sending in reinforcements, assuming the idiots we just killed didn't do that already. If I just shut it down manually, they won't notice anything amiss until it's already off." Mordenna grinned at him. "I'll let you put some of your psionics around my midsection, yank me back if anything happens. I trust you."
That seemed to mollify Jax, as he nodded. "Alright. Lead the way, Mordenna."
He would. Still, he motioned for the Archons to take point in cover behind him. He'd need them close, but not close enough to get clipped by anything that might come out of the portal. Mordenna felt a gentle pressure around his waist that made him look down. Sure enough, a cord of Jax's psionics had been tightly wrapped around him. He gave Jax a reassuring thumbs-up before moving forwards, approaching the Gate.
At this distance, it was almost kind of awe-inspiring. Kind of. Mordenna had seen Gates in person before and had even travelled through them a few times. He knew how they worked and how they looked. This would be standard. Once he was on the main platform, he began to move towards the control panel.
Of course, nothing was ever that easy, and Mordenna's life could never be simple.
It happened so fast that not even Mordenna had time to react. The portal in the Gate suddenly activated, there was a flurry of motion, and then Mordenna was getting slammed on his back. Fear, stronger than anything he'd ever known, clouded his mind. Half of it was mental manipulation. The other half was from what was now upon him. Codices, cloaked in the purple of psionics and with glowing red eyes, were pinning him down, sitting on his limbs with one on his chest. Whispers, familiar whispers tugged at his mind, robbing him of his own words as he stared at the Revenant upon him.
Odin—his Revenant—was on him. "Child. Even now you take from me what could have been just given, if you remained in my good graces."
Mordenna would've had a witty response, but he was busy hyperventilating. He couldn't tell what was his own fear and what was clearly Odin manipulating his emotions. Why wasn't the rest of his squad doing anything? He tried to look over at them and more Codices appeared, planting their hands on his head and forcing him to look at the one on his chest. "Trust me, wretched son, even now I am exercising mercy. Your friends—your siblings have fled. I am merely sparing you from having to see that reality."
"Menace!" As Eliza spoke, one of the Codices seemed to notice. "Why aren't you—?!"
One of the Codices at the side of his head dug in and took out his communicator. In its palm, the device short-circuited. "She lies to you. She wants you to believe you ever would have had a purpose outside of me." Mordenna wanted to scream out, to be defiant, to look and confirm that Odin was lying. He seemed to notice such, as his hissing chuckle emanated from all of the Codices on the scene. "Do you not believe me? Idiot. I will let you call for them. Go on. Call for help."
Enough of the fear lifted that Mordenna could feel his words come back. His heart felt like it was going to thump right out of his chest still, but he had to know. He had to know. "—Jax! Pull me back! Please!"
Nothing. It was now that Mordenna noticed that he could no longer feel the pressure of the cord around his waist. Only the lonely howl of the wind and the whispers in his mind answered him, hollowing out his chest and causing a worse despair than Odin could have ever instilled.
Odin laughed once more. "You doubt me and once again I am proven right. I gave you everything—a brilliant mind, servants at your disposal, a new life. And yet you rejected me at every turn. You deliberately made yourself a nuisance and dared to think that I was not your best recourse. You have proven yourself worthless. For that, I will set right what once went wrong. I am going to kill you, but even now I exercise restraint." The main Codex leaned over, staring him in the eyes. "If you truly believe they will come back for you... I will make this slow. I will take you apart, piece by piece. If they come back for you... will they accept what's left of you? Yes, it seems you were able to make them accept your pathetic sister by fashioning her a new arm. But what of you? If you have no eyes to see, no arms to tinker, will they be as forgiving?"
Seems Odin was expecting him to respond. However, if he was expecting Mordenna to panic, to scream, well... he was raised by Odin. He should've known Mordenna's next action would have been to spit in the face of the main Codex.
The presence in the area magnified, and the Codex glared at him. "Defiant until the end, I suppose. I will be merciful... and make this slow." Odin planted a hand over his right eye... and his left hand raised. "Your precious Sight first."
The Codex's hand plunged downwards, and there was a burst of pain at Mordenna's left eye socket. He tried to hold back, but Mordenna couldn't help but scream, his voice reaching a harrowing pitch as Odin yanked. Mordenna's vision split and distorted for one second, and then suddenly he couldn't see as much as he used to. He could feel the blood running down from his eye socket, the pain searing into his mind and bringing tears to his remaining eye.
"No!"
That—that was Jax. Before either Odin or Mordenna could react, a giant fist made of reddish-pink psionics slammed into a majority of the Codices, flinging them off of Mordenna. The rest scattered, fleeing to Mordenna's left and presumably back into the portal. With his limbs free, all that Mordenna could think to do was curl in on himself and press his hands to his eye socket, half in trying to stem the flow, half from the pain. For once in his life, he could barely think, so suffocated by agony and sheer shock. His breaths came out in short wheezes, tears streaming down his face.
He wasn't alone for long. Thudding footsteps raced towards him and he flinched, scrambling to get away. His Specter limb seemed to have seized in the attack and was now barely an appendage, scraping at the ground to help him get away. He stopped when he heard who it was, however. "Mordenna! Mordenna, it's me!"
Once he heard it was Jax, he stopped struggling, slumping back onto the ground. He was scooped up and hugged, and it was then that he bothered to open his remaining eye. Jax had come to a kneel and had pressed Mordenna to his chest, arms so tight around him that Mordenna was sure he couldn't leave even if he wanted to. He was slightly rocking, psionics flared and attempting to mesh with his. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, he—he made it so I couldn't move, none of us could—I should have been stronger, I'm sorry..."
That answered Mordenna's half-thought question at least. He would've mulled over it more were he not in so much pain. Mordenna spared an arm to hug Jax, burying his face into his chest and sucking in a breath. Maybe he was fine with crying, but... not out here. Not in front of everyone on the Avenger, pretty much.
Of course, the option was taken from him when he could feel someone press against him on his opposite side. He didn't even need to look to know that Fal-Mai had arrived on the scene as well, huddling close to him with her soft shroud tossed over them. A cursory glance showed that it wasn't even powerful enough to conceal them—it was like a shimmering, purple blanket of mist. With the addition of Fal-Mai, Mordenna's emotions spilled over and out of his control and he buried his face back in Jax's chest and closed his eye, heaving a pitiful sob and squeezing his brother tightly.
More footsteps approached and he hated knowing he was looking this vulnerable in front of countless eyes. One set came over to them and stopped. "Mordenna." That was Sherry, sounding very much like she didn't want to intrude. "I... I need to see your eye. We need to stem the bleeding."
He didn't even want to think of being treated, because that required facing the reality of the situation—Odin had struck him again, and this time the damage wasn't just cosmetic. But even despite his state, he wasn't enough of an idiot to refuse treatment. Slowly, he turned his head away from Jax and towards the sound of Sherry's voice, taking his hand away from his socket. "That's—that's good. You're doing great." Hands pressed against his face and he flinched. "It's just me, it's just me." He knew that. But the physical memory from just earlier wasn't helping.
Jax's request for a meld was more insistent this time, backed up by Fal-Mai's presence. Mordenna gave another shuddering sob and relented, letting them in. Jax's first order of business was to take all of Mordenna's pain onto himself. Mordenna tried in vain to take some of it back, knowing how much of it there was, but Jax was far psionically stronger than he was and stonewalled him, even as he hissed in pain. With his pain gone, Fal-Mai was the one to extend her signature, supporting his and doing the best mental equivalent to a hug she could manage. Jax arrived to assist just a little while after her—and Mordenna got caught up on his psionics. There were notable courses of red underneath all of the purple and pink. It had been there before, but now... it was almost as if the other colors were having a hard time holding the red back.
"Mordenna." Sherry's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "I'm going to administer some painkiller, then I need to hold your eyelids open to treat the wound."
"D-do it," he managed. Jax may have been taking all of his pain, making him feel none of it, but he'd take off what burdens he could from him. After a second, there was a pinch on his cheek, then that side of his face began to numb to physical sensation. Something occurred to him and it took all of his willpower not to move while the needle was still in him. "Th-the Gate. You need t-to—"
"It's handled," Sherry replied. "We've got the Archons guarding the portal as Shen disables it. We may be drawing attention right now but—" Sherry stalled for a moment, as if her voice was about to break. "—but you need the help. It's going to be alright."
With that, the needle withdrew, and he knew what was going to come next. Wanting to focus on anything else right now, he mentally retreated to the mind meld. "What... what happened to you guys?"
Jax's signature was full of regret and guilt. "When Odin came out of the Gate... he washed fear over all of us. None of us could move. It... it took seeing him... do that to you for me to resist."
He knew Jax was beating himself up, but... the fact that Jax had overpowered an Elders' hold on him spoke volumes on both just how strong Jax could be—and how much it must've hurt to see... well, Mordenna didn't want to think about that. It was enough to know that his siblings cared enough to defy the Elders to save him.
Though, speaking of his siblings... he could feel Fal-Mai's own guilt over not being able to resist. He mentally turned to her. "That was Odin, Fals. Jax only broke out because he's a psionic powerhouse. I... I don't blame you for being unable to come help."
"I should've been able to," she insisted. "If Jax could do it, then why can't—"
"Don't," Mordenna insisted somewhat forcefully. "Don't pull that right now. Not on me. We went through this with me and your arm. I'm willing to accept there was nothing you could do if you think the same. But if you think there was something you could've done, well, we know where that would lead."
Fal-Mai was silent for a moment, which made Mordenna think he'd been too harsh. But eventually she rallied back to him. "You're right. I struggled as hard as I could against his influence, but to no avail. So long as one of us was able to stop him, I shall leave the matter at rest."
Yeah. Honestly Mordenna was glad she wasn't going to go on and on about it. He realized now how much of a hypocrite he was for thinking that—because wasn't that what he did and what he admitted he did? He sighed. Well, more to focus on other than that. They got the Gate, sure, but... he was down an eye now. Field deployments were out of the question until he readjusted how he shot—if Eliza would let him back out being down an eye at all. That prospect wasn't the prettiest. He was starting to find himself more away from the killing, yes, but he wouldn't be there to protect his siblings. Fal-Mai and Jax would just have to watch out for each other, and that wasn't going to cut it to him.
He scowled slightly, and Sherry "hmm"ed. "Are the painkillers not working? I can up the dosage."
"No, they are, just..." Mordenna sighed again, opening his eye. Seeing Sherry having her hands and tools leading right into his new blindspot was disconcerting to say the least. "I'm not jazzed about this whole situation, frankly."
Sherry nodded. "Only natural. Fact of the matter is, you survived. Seen some of my squadmates not even manage that."
... Mordenna would know. Angel came to his mind and he looked away, mood further sullied. She probably knowingly brought that back up. He still had a lot to answer for.
His siblings must've noticed his sullen mood, as Fal-Mai mentally nudged him to get his attention. "Everything will be alright. We can go home and—"
"Just for once I'd like to dwell on something," he snapped. He didn't mean to be angry, but it was far better than crying. His surface justification was not getting any tears in Sherry's way, but... he knew it was because he hated seeming so vulnerable. "Maybe it isn't the right way to handle it but this isn't exactly something I can say 'well what can you do' about and move on. Everything won't be alright because I don't exactly have all of myself anymore. I'd think you'd understand, Fal-Mai."
Fal-Mai immediately went silent and Mordenna knew what he'd done. He withdrew from the link even as Jax tried to keep him in, saying something about resolving what he'd just said. "Sherry. How much longer."
"Actually," she said, withdrawing her tools, "I'm done now. Take it easy and let the socket breathe—"
"Great. Thanks." Mordenna wormed out of Jax's grip before he could tighten it and he got up, walking off. He needed to be away from his siblings, right this second. Fal-Mai would need a moment to deal with what he'd just said—
He heard Jax's footsteps behind him. "Don't," he hissed, continuing to walk. "Not now." As he walked, Jax continued to follow. Mordenna could feel his frustration building, but he wasn't about to unleash it—at least, not here in front of everyone else. He got to an area that was out of direct line of sight from the Gate and he wheeled around. Sure enough, Jax was right behind him, his visor retracted. "Can't you listen to a single word I fucking say?! What's it going to take for you to leave me alone?" Mordenna knew he was just being abrasive to get Jax to leave. If Jax left now, he wouldn't need to suffer more of Mordenna's mood. Mordenna wouldn't hurt him any more than he already had.
"If you want me to leave you alone," Jax replied simply, "you will have to kill me first. Mordenna, you are hurting. I would understand that—I took your pain before Sherry gave you a painkiller."
"And I never asked for you to do that!" Mordenna threw his hands out. "Do you think I ask to be constantly coddled by everyone around me? I'm getting fucking sick of it! What fucking use am I when every five minutes everyone has to stop and tell me everything's going to be fine?! I'm just a goddamn burden on everyone here!"
"Is that what you're going to selfishly insist?" Jax took a step towards him and Mordenna moved back a little. "Do you really think you are a burden on us?"
"Yeah! Because it's the truth!" He gestured in the direction of the Gate. "I was told to be careful by our goddamn oracle and what did I do? Approach the goddamn Gate myself!"
"You said yourself that it was the best way."
"Sometimes I'm a huge fucking liar, as it turns out! Shen's having a lovely time up there shutting the Gate off herself—if we'd just let her shut off the Gate instead of me, none of this would have happened! I'm a fuckup, Jax, and I don't fucking deserve to be here!"
Jax locked eyes with him, his gaze strong. "So. When we get home and you are aboard the Avenger, would you like to repeat all of that to your daughter?"
Mordenna's chest suddenly hollowed out. He... he had someone waiting for him back there. Someone depending on him. "I..."
"Is that what you are going to do? Are you going to look Vix in the eye and tell her you are going to abandon her because you do not wish to inconvenience the rest of us?" Jax spread his hands out. "Even if you decide to part from us and take her with you, are you going to deprive her of the rest of her family? Won't you ultimately be a burden to her as well, if that is what you claim you are to the rest of us? I know you are being abrasive to me to get me to leave you alone, out of some misguided attempt to spare me suffering. But, Mordenna..." Jax's eyes softened. "It hurts me to see you hurt. To see you in agony like this. You have changed from grief to anger to not show vulnerability." Jax let his arms drop. "Are you so willing to turn your back on what Eliza taught all of us...?"
No. No, he wasn't. Jax's words cut deep as he intended them to, and Mordenna lost all of his rage and frustration. Grief and guilt swiftly filled the cracks and he crossed his arms, hugging himself. "No. I... I-I don't want to do that. I'm just..." He grimaced, his sadness threatening to spiral out of his control. He shouldn't have been holding it back in light of what Jax had just said. Yet...
Jax further approached him, and this time Mordenna didn't back away. "... just say sorry, Mordenna. All you need to do is apologize."
He could do that. "—I'm sorry," he eked out, voice trying desperately to break on him, "t-to you. And F-Fals." He took in a shuddering breath. "I know she's—she's here."
"Good." Jax placed his hands on Mordenna's shoulders. "Now apologize to yourself. You have called yourself a burden and thoroughly implied that none of us desire to have you around, which is slander of the highest order again yourself. This liberal self-destruction... it hurts us all to see you do that."
Apologizing to himself seemed stupid, but Jax was right. Even with all the work Eliza had been putting into him... Mordenna always tore himself down. Sometimes it was jokes, sometimes it was something more serious like he just did. The damage that had been doing to him... it wasn't pretty to think about. Mordenna barely managed another "I'm sorry" before a sob stole the rest of his words.
That seemed to be all Jax wanted. He drew Mordenna into his arms and hugged him tightly—and sure enough, there was a presence at his back. Didn't take a mind like Mordenna's to say it was Fal-Mai. Mordenna practically collapsed against Jax, and this time he let his sadness flow freely. He sobbed against his brother, finally dealing with his feelings. He wasn't worthless, no, but it hurt so much to lose something so treasured to him. He'd lost one of his greatest assets and he couldn't protect his siblings as much as he wanted to anymore. Mordenna just wanted to dwell on his sadness, to vent for the moment. He needed to.
Thankfully, his siblings were there to comfort him. They initiated the link again and Mordenna let them support him as their signatures radiated reassurance. He was so, so lucky to have them. He was lucky to have Vix, and he was lucky to have Eliza.
Eliza... she couldn't have been holding up well in light of all of this. First Fal-Mai, now him. Mordenna grimly wondered if Jax was next for a second before dismissing the thought. There was no need to speculate about something like that. He had people at home he needed to reunite with—and he was sure Vix had seen what happened. She was probably so broken up about having just been told he'd be fine...
Mordenna heaved another sob, louder thanks to that. His poor daughter... if he couldn't protect himself... no, he shook his head. That was an Elder—that was Odin who did that. It was out of his hands. He could protect Vix. But when he got home, she'd need as much comfort as he did now. He was ready to be there for her, and maybe get a little bit of his grieving out then, too. Vix wasn't his personal therapist, but he wasn't invincible. Knowing her dad could be vulnerable too would hopefully help her.
Eventually, god willing, Mordenna calmed down. He was left breathing deeply, face damp and throat raw. He took in another breath before even thinking of replying. "... thank you guys. For everything. I... I love both of you."
Fal-Mai hugged him a little tighter. "We love you too, Mordenna, and we always will. Are you ok?"
"No," he admitted, "but... we're getting there. You two are helping so much. I'm—I'm probably gonna be a major grump for the next few days as I get over this. I'm just gonna say sorry now if I get abrasive."
"You lost an eye, Mordenna," Jax replied. "It's only natural to be hurting with such an injury, physically and emotionally. But we will be there with you every step of the way."
Mordenna nodded, heaving a cleansing sigh and just slumping against his brother. He could use all the support he could get. Good thing his siblings loved him.
That was a disaster.
Argus could only watch through the security cams with the rest of the Trio as Odin's Phantom, clearly battered, weakly struggled back over to where his body rest. They all crawled up onto the glass and sank in afterwards, reuniting with him. When the call had gone out regarding proximity on one of the Gates being breached, Odin had leapt into action without so much as warning the rest of them. He'd forcefully projected his Phantom into the real world, had them sprint out and to one of the access Gates, and, well... they had all seen what had happened from there. A blow struck, and a blow returned. Argus could only wonder how Odin was holding up.
They didn't need to wonder for much longer. The whispers mounted, but they were far more strained than before. Quieter, as well. Argus backed out of the security feeds just in time to see Odin weakly manifest among them, hunched, his projection weak. Cronus was the first to speak, his tone sneering. "So the mighty Odin cannot control a mere Chosen, hm?"
"Shut up, wretch," Odin snarled. Even his voice was pained—Jax had scored a clean hit. "That should be a matter of concern. Are all of you as blind as I intended to make Ref-Il or did you see what happened for what it really was?"
Argus certainly did. As Jax broke Odin's hold on him, two red sets of spectral arms had unfolded alongside his usual two. They disappeared quickly, but Argus could argue one of them got put to use getting Odin's Phantom off of Mordenna. "—the seal on his Phantom is weakening."
"Nonsense," Cronus hissed. "You are merely becoming weaker by the day, Odin. It's plain to see to the rest of us—you should not rely on such mudslinging!" Of course prideful Cronus would insist that his work was flawless.
For once, Helena sided with them. "Oh, abandon your pride, Cronus! We all witnessed the same event. That Phantom of his will break out given enough effort. Seeing Odin's attempt on Ref-Il's life must have been enough emotional strain to cause your rather weak tampering to start to—"
"Dare you accuse me of weakness?!" Cronus rushed to meet Helena. "What have you accomplished next to me, you miserable excuse for an Ethereal?! First your Assassin escapes you, then your Specter Prime flees with the Gatekeeper Prime! You have failed the most out of all of us!"
Low blow, considering Argus was right there, and Helena knew that. She matched Cronus's heat. "And you are the one who enabled your reject of a Chosen to strike against an Elder! Your stubborn pride will be the downfall of the rest of us—that freak has a Phantom stronger than ours and yet you insisted to use it!"
Cronus must've been out of a strong response to that, as his head whipped to Argus. "We would not be in this situation at all if it were not for Argus's insistence to keep that Commander whole! They have been the one undermining us at every turn!"
Rarer still, Odin rose slightly, joining in allowing Argus to stay silent. "I beg to differ. You were the one who went off on your own making your own servant from files you barely understood." Odin's voice dropped to a threatening whisper. "All of this has been your fault, and you know it."
That did it. Cronus's Phantom roared into view quite literally, and he raised a hand to smite Odin.
"Enough."
That voice. That presence, like the thrum of the universe, the resonant singing of far-off stars, the cosmic drone of a black hole. Argus, Helena, and Odin immediately bowed, one set of hands clasped behind their backs and the other placed together in front of them, palms together. Cronus himself whipped around, faced with the total presence of the Uber, the Overmind. His different helmet marked his status—a superior among equals. His projection even stood taller than them, rightfully imposing. At his side was his advisor and former lover, though the status now was debatable, considering. Angelis herself retained the same helmet as the rest of them, but it had been fitted to allow red strips of cloth to dangle down from it at key points. Equal, yes, but decorated.
Cronus's signature cowed in fear and his Phantom immediately retreated, and he took to the bow. "O-Overmind. Please excuse my behavior. They were—"
"You know your failings." The Overmind effortlessly talked over Cronus. Cronus was a king—the Overmind was a god. "Elder Odin. Your injuries?"
"I'm winded," Odin managed, trying to sound unaffected, "but ultimately it will heal in time."
"Your words are your own." The Overmind turned his infinite attention to Argus, and Argus felt their lifespan get a little bit shorter. "Argus." Argus never got their title from the Overmind. It was a subtle mark of disrespect. "Your Avatar Project?"
"It has encountered difficulties," they began, knowing it wouldn't be enough, "but with the Hunter forced to—"
"In every report I get from you," the Overmind spoke, "I hear excuses. XCOM meddles, that I understand, but your progress is slow even by your standards. Do you think me blind, Argus?"
"No."
"Then dare I ask of the Siren again?"
Argus went silent. There was no way to outmaneuver the Overmind here. He was not as privy to misdirection and clever excuses as the Trio were, and the Overmind actually bothered to personally read Argus's reports. It hadn't escaped the Overmind's notice on how late the Siren project ran, and now, Argus's slower pace because they were working on an additional, modified Avatar for their purposes affected the Avatar Project.
The silence was deafening. At this point, Argus accepted the fact that this was where they would die. The Overmind had the reasons and the means to kill them. The Avatar Project was far enough along to be completed by anybody else, even if the quality would somewhat suffer. This was where the line ended.
Instead, something far worse happened. "It is clear you need guidance to carry out this project to completion. There seem to be difficulties involved that only you face. I'm sure you realize how much this project means to the rest of us—after all, you retain your empathy where we do not. Do you not feel sadness for our suffering, Argus?"
... not really. Argus knew they all had reason to die out entirely with the injustices they had committed on a cosmic scale. Lying directly to the Overmind would surely be caught out, however. Was honesty the best option? Was it better to take refuge in the audacity of telling the truth? "... I feel something, Overmind," they replied, going with a third option. "Not sadness. Fear."
"Something we share. I fear for our futures. Despite your shortcomings and acting out, you are our best hope of fighting against that which we have seen in this Earth. Your Siren project was key, which is why I allowed it to drag on for so long. But now you leave me with two decisions." He extended his hand, and suddenly Argus was short of breath, feeling like their head was splitting open. Their limbs weakened, bringing back painful memories of when they still existed in their physical body, fighting back against the degeneration. "I cut off your life support and kill you. The Avatar Project takes longer and we lose our best mind for it, but at least our one defective Etheral no longer walks among us. Or..." The Overmind withdrew his hand, and Argus no longer suffered. "I allow you to live. But it clear you cannot operate without supervision any longer." He turned his head to Angelis. "You will be granted the luxury of working with Elder Angelis, who will see to it that you are able to complete the Avatar Project in record time. After which, if she deems you worthy... you may see to using the fruits of your efforts yourself."
That was an impossible task. Angelis was reasonable, but every Ethereal in the Collective knew that the writing was on the wall for Argus. Once the Avatar Project was complete, they were either getting stripped of their "useless" emotions forcefully... or dying. With Angelis watching them, there would be hardly any space to work on the other Avatar. They had still gotten so much progress done on it that perhaps it would be workable... and if they developed it in tandem while applying the same changes to the other Avatars...?
Argus didn't like it, but the choice was clear. "I would be honored to work with Elder Angelis, Overmind."
The Overmind nodded approvingly. "Good. I sometimes forget that despite everything, you can see reason occasionally." He then turned to Angelis. "My Angelis. I'm assigning you to Argus. Any objections?"
Angelis shook her head. Her presence meshed perfectly with the Overmind's, to the point where it was hard to tell the two apart. "None. I will see Your will done." The Overmind was practically a god to the rest of the Ethereals. Argus personally avoided such designations in their own mind, but used it in speech when he was around to be safe. Occasionally the others didn't when he wasn't around, but he got his proper honorifics more often than not.
Angelis floated to stand among the Trio, Cronus hurriedly getting out of the way as she passed. As he did, the Overmind turned his attention to him. "Elder Cronus. I believe you owe me an explanation for what I witnessed you doing. Shall we have a more private conversation?"
Oh. Cronus was in for it. His signature quieted to nothing, and he deepened his bow. Perhaps he knew what Jax felt, now. "... yes, Overmind. I will accompany You."
The Overmind looked back to them. "Carry on about your duties. Elder Cronus will be back when the time is right. And Argus..." His robes raised slightly as his power engulfed Cronus, starting to cover him as well. "Finish something, for once in your life."
With that edict, the Overmind and Cronus disappeared. That left the rest of them in his silent wake.
Angelis herself wasn't quiet for long. "No time to be wasted, Argus." Practical as always. "I'm going to do a review of your files and progress thus far and then we'll see about putting the project into manageable overtime."
"Yes, Elder Angelis." This was going to be hell. XCOM help them...