She dropped from the ADVENT transport ship, eager to begin her work. The viper had been sent along with an outreach team to assist an isolated group of humans, and was ready to help them enter society as functional citizens. She slithered forward, accompanied by MECs and Troopers that were, curiously, carrying full armaments as if they were prepared for battle. As they entered the human settlement, she looked around to see no signs of life.
The viper had always liked humans. They were always so nice to everyone, and their tight-knit groups of friends and families were something of a wonder to her. Humans constantly showed kindness to those in need, and were often very selfless when helping others. It saddened her that some of them were so adamant in resisting ADVENT, since they had to be killed in battle in order to maintain peace. Of what she had heard, though, the resistance was a cold and ruthless band of savages, hellbent on causing pain and destruction where there would otherwise be serenity.
Why they would want such a thing, she did not know. Perhaps greed, or lust for personal gain and power. In the ranks of ADVENT, she was part of something far bigger than herself, just a piece of a far larger machine. While this thought was somewhat comforting, she often wished for her people to behave more like humans, since they valued each other as individuals. Nobody was expendable in human society, unlike in ADVENT's military. She and her allies were faceless and expendable, but she knew that they were important to the Elders, were they not? Surely, they would not throw away the lives of her and her people as if they were unfeeling machines.
The team spread out, searching for any human residents. It was strange that no one was present. Were they all hiding? Why would they hide from those who are trying to help them? The viper entered a building through the door and spotted a family of humans cowering in the corner, which struck her as odd. Did they not realize that ADVENT was here to help? She smiled, keeping her plasma rifle at her side non-threateningly as she approached slowly. "It is alright," she soothed them, "We are here to assist you. I mean you no harm."
They seemed to hesitate, but gradually stood and warily followed her back through the door. She led them out to the clearing in the center of the village, smiling at her allies as she brought out the first group of saved humans. When the Troopers suddenly raised their weapons, the viper realized that something was wrong. Before she could explain that these humans were peaceful, the squad of Troopers opened fire and quickly dispatched the family of four. She gagged at the sight of their bodies being eviscerated accompanied by their short-lived screams of fear and pain before they were killed.
Why had they done that? She was mortified by the unexpected brutality of her allies. Perhaps they had simply mistaken these humans as Resistance fighters. This theory was shattered by the sound of more magnetic weapons firing throughout the village, mixed with the screams of their victims. There was no denying it: they had not been sent to help these humans, but to exterminate them.
She darted off into the village where she did not see any of her allies, trying to process what was happening. Until now, she had thought that ADVENT was peaceful and righteous, but this changed everything. They were slaughtering unarmed humans who had simply wished to be left alone, which was not something that she had ever even imagined that they might do. There had to be a way to fix this; surely it was just a misunderstanding. The sound of a transport's engines sounded nearby, and she looked up to see an unfamiliar dropship swoop down over the field.
Bursting through a door, plasma rifle raised, she spotted two humans in the corner of the room. A man and a woman, who had their backs to the door until she entered, turning to reveal an infant in the man's arms. The woman raised a pistol, her hands trembling as she aimed at the viper in her doorway. Suddenly, she had the urge to shoot them, to kill them where they stood. But the sight of the helpless, crying baby overpowered this urge. She lowered her rifle, motioning for them to escape through the door as she moved back outside, keeping an eye out for her allies. If any were to appear, she had no idea what she would do. She could not simply shoot them.
As the three humans sprinted away from their village, the viper hurried along to help more of these people. Slithering between two buildings, she was stopped in her tracks by the crack of a sniper rifle. The lead bullet buzzed angrily past her head, and she reflexively looked back to see one of the Troopers fall to the ground, their helmet bearing a hole straight through the forehead. She turned back just in time to see the butt of a rifle hit her in the face, stunning her and knocking her to the ground. Her vision cleared, and her heart stopped for a moment as she saw the unmistakable visage of a Resistance warrior staring back at her, his shotgun pointed at her head. This was the weapon that had hit her, not a rifle. One boot was placed on her abdomen, pinning her to the ground.
"P-please," she begged, the urge to fight this human overwhelmed by fear, "I do not wish to die! I do not wish to harm these humans!"
He looked at her silently, his face hidden behind a bandanna and sunglasses. Despite this, she could tell that he was looking at her intensely, debating whether or not to shoot her. It would be easy to kill her then and there, and she would be in no position to fight back. Two ornate axes rested on his back, and she guessed that those could kill her just as easily as his shotgun, but without wasting ammunition. She was completely at his mercy, and they both knew it.
To her relief, he finally removed his booted foot from her abdomen, lowering his weapon cooly. He hesitated for a moment, giving her a hard look to emphasize that he would only give her this chance once. She grabbed her weapon and slithered away quickly, making sure not to even suggest that she might try to take advantage of his mercy. Mercy. That word echoed loudly in her mind as if repeatedly screamed. That had been a Resistance warrior, infamous for their bloodlust and ruthlessness, yet he had spared her. Just another thing that ADVENT had lied to her about, she supposed.
The battle began shortly after that. A human woman entered the battlefield carrying a huge autocannon, propping it up on a waist-high stone wall to pound a target with high-caliber rounds. Another human, accompanied by a small drone, fired an unfamiliar weapon at the ADVENT Captain, the huge bolt striking him in the chest and killing him instantly. The viper avoided conflict as much as possible, the urge to shoot these humans curiously absent from her mind.
The Resistance warriors pushed through the ADVENT forces, rescuing any surviving humans they found along the way. She darted into a building to take cover, her head pounding from the blow the warrior had given her. She leaned against a wall as she held a hand to her forehead, waiting for the pain to stop. In the meantime, she attempted to rationalize what she had now witnessed.
Within a few minutes, everything that she had thought about ADVENT and the Resistance had been challenged. It was clear now that ADVENT was not what they claimed to be; they were killing these civilians without remorse, acting exactly as they claimed the Resistance to behave. And the Resistance was not what they claimed either. It was certainly possible that this warrior was an exception to the rule, but the sniper that had killed the Trooper had spared her as well.
She liked humans. She really did. The thought of killing these helpless villagers made her stomach churn and her head pound even harder. The viper had to confirm her suspicions. She left the building, realizing as she did so that it was actually burning. Not only were they killing all of the inhabitants, but her people were destroying every trace of this place. Moving to higher ground atop a building that seemed to be structurally sound, she peered through the scope of her plasma rifle to observe the battle from afar.
As she watched, it seemed like her mind was clearer than it had ever been in her life. Her loyalty to ADVENT was unfounded, she now realized on top of everything else, and her knowledge of the Resistance had come only from the Speaker and other propaganda. Why had she never realized this before? Presently, she watched through her scope as the cannon-wielding human was flanked by a Trooper. The unit managed to shoot her in the side, catching her off-guard and causing her to scream in pain.
"Defcon," a man shouted, "I've got you!" The shotgun-wielding man that had spared her leapt out from behind a building, slashing the Trooper with one of his axes. One her sisters appeared nearby, using her powerful tongue to pull the man across the clearing and bind him. He shouted in surprise, grunting with effort and pain as he was slowly crushed in the other viper's iron grip.
From her perch, she wondered what the other humans would do. She knew what ADVENT would do: leave the pinned soldier to suffer until forces could be spared to assist him. Instead, the crack of a sniper rifle sounded and the enemy viper was thrown to the ground as the bullet hit her in the chest. She did not die instantly, but the shotgun-man fixed this quickly with one of his axes, sweeping the blade through her neck and separating her head from her shoulders. Watching through her scope, she grimaced at the death of one of her sisters but found herself appreciating the manner in which the other viper had died.
The sniper had changed his priorities in order to protect his teammate, and the shotgun-wielder for the woman before that. None of her own allies would ever do that. When killing the enemy viper, they had worked quickly, giving the alien a swift and painless death, and a warrior's death no less. It still did not please her to see one of her sisters die, but the fact that these Resistance warriors were fighting to defend their own people made more sense than ADVENT's attack.
The heavy gunner fell forward, succumbing to her wounds and passing out in the middle of battle. This would have meant failure in ADVENT's ranks, and such a failure would merit being left to die. Just as she had hoped, the Resistance proved to function differently. The man with the drone rushed forward, sending the machine to his fallen ally. The drone expelled a sort of white foam that sank into her wounds and sealed them shut, preventing her from bleeding out. He then slid to a halt in front of her, stowing his weapon in order to pick her up and carry her on his shoulder. It was clear that he was straining beneath the weight of the other human's heavy armaments, but he carried her regardless.
"Defcon is down," he shouted to his allies, "Call for pickup!"
This was not something that ADVENT would ever have done for any of their soldiers that she knew of. The man, now unable to adequately defend himself, slowly moved away from the battle, his speed greatly reduced under the other human's weight. He was risking his life to save hers, something almost completely foreign to the viper. A single MEC appeared nearby, taking aim at the human. Seeing this, the urge to fire surged through her mind once more. But it was not targeted at any human.
She snapped off a shot at the MEC, her extensive combat training kicking in as the plasma rifle kicked backward in her hands. The plasma bolt streaked through the air and struck the machine in the shoulder, staggering it slightly and interrupting its targeting process. Sensing a new threat, it turned its attention to her, opening fire with its heavy magnetic autocannon. She ducked down beneath the railing, avoiding the shots with ease before popping back up to assess the situation. Betrayed and enlightened, she was determined to assist these humans. Disgusted by the revelation of her people's true nature, she now understood why the Resistance fought back as it did.
The warriors looked up at her in shock, but quickly recovered as they kept moving about the battlefield. She was helping them, and they weren't about to turn down a new ally. They rescued the few remaining civilians, then rushed to the transport as it swooped down over the field again. The man with the drone carried the wounded woman on his shoulder as he rode a thick rope into the craft. The sniper finally revealed himself to her, sprinting to the extraction zone and firing his sidearm at an advancing Trooper as he did so.
The shotgun-man was the last to extract, seeing to it that his comrades escaped safely first. Running at full pelt toward safety, the final civilian to be rescued suddenly stepped into his path. Observing through her scope, her eyes widened as the human transformed grossly into a disgusting creature that was nearly twice as tall. The Resistance warrior did not falter, firing his shotgun directly into its midsection. The attack staggered it, but it did not fall. This human, now in danger, had shown her mercy and let her keep her life. Now she would return the favor.
She fired a plasma bolt straight through the faceless's head. It roared weakly as it melted, the shot having killed it thoroughly. The warrior sprinted forward, grabbing his rope to extract to safety, then paused as if a thought had struck him. He turned to look at her, giving her a short salute before departing. She returned the gesture, strangely proud to have betrayed her people to help him. Why she had been able to see these obvious truths while her sisters could not, she did not know. Perhaps they had not met these humans...
Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as she was tackled from behind. She managed to turn over onto her back to see that it was another viper who had pinned her. "You are too valuable to be allowed to betray us," her sister hissed, "You will be shown the Elders' truth once more!" That sounded bad; ADVENT never labeled a soldier as valuable. Why she was valuable in particular, she had absolutely no idea. She was not eager to find out, though as she was dragged away she knew that she had no choice.
...
Once back on the Avenger, Leonidas immediately sought out The Commander. It had been The Commander who had issued the order to spare the viper, and she had ended up helping them escape. This was not something that he had ever thought would happen, and now he suspected that The Commander had a plan.
Leonidas was the leader of the Spartans, XCOM's best strike team, and The Commander's solution to more advanced threats and problems. They were his most versatile and elite team, able to handle nearly anything sent their way. To have them spare an enemy was unheard of, and it was obvious that there was more to it than one lucky encounter. This mission had been luck, but Leonidas was positive that The Commander would have more work for the Spartans now.
As he entered his superior's quarters, the older man turned to face him. He smiled, "Ah, Leonidas. I take it you've caught on to my little scheme here?"
"I think I haven't seen the last of that viper." Leonidas shook his head, sitting down on the couch, "It was a risky move, sparing her like that. I won't deny that it paid off, and I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't curious as to her motives, but I'm not sure I'm going to like whatever it is you no doubt have planned for me and the other Spartans."
"Your mission is simple," The Commander said with a lopsided grin, "I want you to recruit her into our ranks."
"What!?" he exclaimed, "Commander, where is this coming from!?"
The older man motioned for him to calm down before he explained, "Her mind-control chip was obviously malfunctioning right from the start, meaning that she was able to see through ADVENT's lies and think about things as they truly are. When you hit her in the head, it must have completely disabled it. I don't think either of us ever expected anything like this to happen, but this is a chance that we can't pass up. She's been detained, Leo; she's no friend to them anymore." He used his personal nickname for the ranger, something that only The Commander was allowed to do.
"I can accept that," Leonidas admitted, "But why not send in the Rhinos to bust her out? Or the Jackals to sneak her out? For once, I think that the Spartans aren't your best option."
"You're awfully reluctant to agree to this, Leonidas. Is something bothering you?"
He leaned back on the couch, "I just need time to process this. If you really think that this could work, then I have no problem with helping, but I'm worried about how the other Spartans will react. They might not be so open-minded."
"You'll have time," The Commander assured him, "I'm still pinpointing her location. Do your best to get your team to agree, and I'll help if needed. We can't miss this chance, Leonidas. And to answer your question as to why I'm sending you: she's more likely to trust the same person who spared her life once already."
He stood, moving to leave, "I'll accept that. I won't let you down, Commander."
"I know you won't," The Commander said after him, "Thanks for being so open-minded about this."
"You know me," Leonidas said over his shoulder as he exited, "Different is my normal."
A/N: Yep, I also play XCOM. I love the series as a whole, and I'm still saving up for Chimera Squad. Can't wait to eventually play it!
There aren't many of these stories that I could find, so I decided to try my hand at it. The hardest part for me (so far!) was just to create an even somewhat-believable reason as to why the viper would switch sides. I wanted to refrain from copying the other stories that I've seen, and eventually settled on creating a viper that joined XCOM voluntarily after seeing what the Elders were really doing because of a faulty mind-control chip.
I couldn't think of a way to draw that out into multiple chapters like the other stories that I've read since I'm not nearly that talented, but I think that the short-and-sweet setup is kind of becoming my thing for these stories. I've resigned to trying to get better at that instead. Not everyone's bag, I know, but I'm hoping that it doesn't ruin the story entirely. Of course, it's just the initial setup that ends up so short- the rest of the story slows down a bit and develops a bit more nicely.
The other thing was that I needed to make sure that I didn't end up copying the other stories that I've seen, so I didn't try to use them for reference. I'm trying to be as original as possible, though some elements might slip in accidentally. I hope that this doesn't make the story any less enjoyable. This is a new challenge for me, so things are going to be rough at first, but they should smooth out with time.
And that's my explanation as to why I seem to be having a hard time with this story; it's because I'm absolutely having a hard time. But if I don't take on these new challenges, then I will not improve. Please leave a review or PM me to tell me your thoughts. Feedback is gonna be essential on this one so that I know if you folks like this, or if I should make changes!
Have fun and stay safe out there! -VV