Access Corridor X1-B, X-Com Headquarters, 16th October 2017

Erin King, X-Com Sergeant Code Name 'Thor'

"Hostiles are down, 4 have disarmed and surrendered Central." When the alarms had gone off, Erin had been catching a nap, Skyhammer having been on response duty the night before in case of an alien attack.

Still, when the site alarm goes off, you respond as quickly as you can. The last thing they needed was Aliens getting inside the base itself while she was getting armoured up. So she was armed but not armoured, which she was regretting slightly as she finished assessing the situation

"Copy Thor, you have tactical control. Coordinate base security forces, search and clear the bodies and secure the base entrance. This is either a scouting force or they were grossly unaware of who they were attacking, and we've already been caught off guard once recently." Central's voice was still minorly haggard from sprinting to Ops from wherever he had been beforehand, but his point was valid and something they needed to take action on quickly.

Looking around, Erin did some quick strategizing in her head to try and work out the best actions to take, doing her best to sound like Kumiko when she then started to bark out orders and pointing at the various members of the security team.

"You, get to the armory and work on rearming the turrets, grab a couple of techs if you need them. You and you, clear up to the entrance room and check for traps or other devices. Do not go outside, there may be others waiting! The rest of you, check the bodies for vests and concealed weapons, getting the bodies to the morgue can wait until we are secure. Allessandra, with me!" Skyhammer's sniper had joined the defence force barely 30 seconds before the invaders had breached the main security door, but she had either already been wearing her armour or had the quickest ready time Erin had personally seen.

Still, the armour and sniper rifle provided her with an intimidation factor that Erin hoped would help with an on the spot interrogation. Given the fact that the surviving attackers had already ditched their primary armaments by the time Erin had followed the flashbang into the room, and that more than one of them were visibly shaking as the two of them approached, Erin suspected they weren't dealing with professionals here.

"Let's cut to the chase. You've attacked a NATO Black-Ops base and were equipped to clearly do more than carry out a site-seeing tour, but you clearly had no idea what you were getting into. This either means that you and whoever sent you are stupid enough to think such a small force were sufficient to take out an entire base by yourselves, or that you are an expendable first wave of attackers meant to test our defences…" Erin trailed off, letting the idea sink into the prisoner's heads as she tried to think what she should say next.

The movies made it seem so easy, couple of hard hitting short speeches and people confessed what information they knew, but that never happened in real life…

"Bastards set us up." Erin's thoughts short-circuited as one of the prisoner's spoke up, his voice trembling with a mixture of anger and shame.

"Be the saviours of mankind they said, work against those that would obstruct humanity's rise. Knew it sounded a little culty but my boyfriend convinced me it was just some of the members being dramatic." The second speaker, the sole woman in the group, raised her hands to her head in a manner that had Erin more than a little twitchy so she gestured with her shotgun.

"Easy there, no sudden movements and keep the hands where I can see them." If she was in her personally Ghost-enchanted armour then Erin wouldn't be as paranoid, but military fatigues were a lot less useful when it came to stopping bullets.

The woman paused for a second and then seemed to realise what Erin meant, turning her hands and opening them to show there was nothing hidden inside.

"Sorry, but this headgear is stuffy as shit, and I was already ready to throw up before being forced to sit amongst a bunch of dead bodies with guns pointed at me." That, that was fair, and it was slightly disturbing to Erin that she hadn't even really noted the blood and gristle strewn walls and floors until it was pointed out to her.

"I like this one." Stowing her Sniper rifle as she spoke, Allessandra gestured at the first speaker in a 'get up' manner.

"Name, rank and any pertinent information related to weapons or other devices I'm going to find on you. Once you've been searched, we will work out what to do with you from there. It's not like we expected to be dealing with prisoners all of a sudden." Not human ones at least.

"Thor, imagine seeing you here." Recognising the voice, Erin kept her shotgun on the prisoner's even as she responded to the sarcastic jest, a small smile crossing her face.

"You know how it is Ghost, you go for a walk and run into a bunch of amateurs trying to attack us. How are you doing? Not seen you in the Rec Room recently…" It was as close to showing her concern for the dimensional traveller as she felt she could convey in public, but she suspected the light and jokey tone she tried to use was more than a little strained.

"I've been… travelling, decided to take some personal time, though when I heard of this mess I thought I'd pop in and see if you needed backup. Everything seems in hand though, unless we are expecting more guests?" Ghost moved from behind her to stand next to her, and his question was clearly aimed more at the prisoners than her.

"H-How do we know that you won't just kill us when we tell you what we know? You are mercenaries, ones that work for the highest bidder!" One of the two prisoner's that hadn't spoken yet, his voice stammering even as he voiced his question, seemed to finally have gotten over his shock.

"Firstly, they aren't Mercenaries." Ghost's tone was a mixture of vindictive and cheerful as he pointed to Allessandra and herself, and while Erin wasn't entirely sure it looked almost as if a dark haze started to appear around Ghost's outline as he crouched down to reply.

"They're a Nato-backed Spec-Ops unit, so they have to abide by those pesky rules and regulations regarding prisoners as long as you tell them what they need to know. Me on the other hand…" Ghost grabbed the prisoner's combat armour with one hand, and with what must be magically enhanced strength stood and dragged the prisoner so he was suddenly dangled in mid-air.

"Let's call me a special contractor, who they call in to deal with problems that require such rules to be… bent as required to get the job done. So, are there any more of you that we have to deal with? Or do I get to spend my time extracting other information from you?" Erin could add interrogation to Ha-Ghost's set of skills, as his tone and facial expressions betrayed nothing of his normal attitude, each word making it sound as if he wanted nothing more than to spend some time 'processing' the prisoners.

"There's others outside!" The prisoner who Allessandra had been searching, who was looking at Ghost with clear horror on his face, was the first to crack, the woman confirming this information a moment later as she pointed to a small rectangular object mounted on her combat armour.

"They were meant to monitor the insertion using these, and move in to support us when we encountered resistance. They managed our arrival, gear and planning…" The woman cut off as Ghost disappeared from next to Erin using what he termed 'apparition', though she and the other strike team members called it 'cheating teleporting bullshit'.

"Central, we have confirmed additional hostiles beyond the base perimeter. Ghost has moved to investigate, suggest we prepare strike teams for proper search and response tactics. Prisoners will be escorted to Dr Vahlen for full scan and testing, they had recording equipment that will be isolated here before being brought further into base." It took several moments for Central to respond, which Erin used to issue some more commands to the security team.

"Get the two covering the entrance back here, and two of you cover the prisoners while we search them. You four, headgear and armour off and get up. Don't need you here in case your friends decide to try and catch us off guard." The prisoners were clearly struggling with seeing Ghost disappear like he did, and it took some jostling to get them to start following her instructions as Central spoke to her.

"Sabre Team is on it's way, Big Sky is being prepped for air support and Dr Vahlen is preparing an area of the labs for holding the prisoners for now. Ghost isn't responding to comms, do you know if he has found anything?" Judging by the echoing sounds of gunfire from outside, followed by the dull krump of either a grenade or one of Ghost's more serious spells, Erin felt fairly confident that he had.

"Sounds like it Central. Corporal Rossi will move to support momentarily, passing situation control to her while I escort prisoners and get my gear. Security team will remain inside to avoid increasing combat targets for enemy forces." Moving away from trouble wasn't something she had ever really done before, but Erin knew that she'd be a lot more useful once she was geared up and ready.

Assuming that Ghost hadn't dealt with the situation by the time she had gotten back, that is…

Frick, Northern Switzerland, 17th October 2017, late morning

?, Exalt 'Shark' Trooper

She could still hear the sound of the X-Com aircraft in the distance, though now she was dressed in civilian gear without her main weapons she had been able to slip into the local town without anyone giving her a second glance. If it had been earlier in the year, the long jacket and face scarf might had drawn more attention, but it was cold enough that tourists unused to such temperatures were common.

They'd underestimated X-Com, that much was clear, something that she wasn't looking forward to explaining to the Commune when she reached the EZ. Judging by how quickly X-Com had struck at the Wolves, who she had left close to the base entrance while she and the other Sharks had fallen back to higher ground, the Initiates assault had not only failed miserably but at least one of them had betrayed their presence as well.

Since then, it had been a constant game of cat and mouse back to the small cave network they had used as a staging area. She'd waited as long as she dared, but it seemed that the others had been forced to either head for the emergency extraction point or they'd been caught in X-Com's surprisingly competent entrapment web.

Still, for now she had to worry about herself first, and deal with the other consequences later.

The extraction point was Frick's train station, which was why she had ditched her gear, though the number of police that were present was worrying if inconsequential. It meant X-Com's influence in the area around their base was also far more extensive than the Commune's intelligence had implied.

Arriving at the station, she didn't even have to enter before she spotted an Exalt contact, one of the Police Officers wearing an armband that displayed the Exalt symbol for 'Truth' stood near one of the service entrances to the station, which was a symbol that wasn't taught to the initiates and other low level members of Exalt so it could be used for such purposes without risk of being compromised.

Looking around for what felt like the millionth time, she knew that the feeling of paranoia was as much a response to the situation as it might be her sixth sense trying to warn her, but that didn't stop her thinking she was being followed as she walked casually towards her contact.

"Excuse me officer, I need to report seeing someone suspicious." Talking wasn't strictly necessary, as it was clear from the contact's body language that he had recognised her.

But she wanted this to seem as natural an event as possible to avoid anyone remembering her later.

"Of course, this way please." The woman was obviously a native, her English tinged with a slight German accent as she used her security pass to open the maintenance door.

Stepping through, she found herself entering what could only be the Employee parking area, twenty odd vehicles parked in two rows inside the vehicle bay.

"Third from the end. I was told to expect more of you?" The question, seemingly innocuous and filled with professional concern, made the hairs on the back of her neck rise even as she took a step in the indicated direction.

"Just me, the others are headed for the other EZ, there's no use waiting for survivors." Reaching the vehicle, a Toyota Yaris that would blend with the other vehicles on the road perfectly, her stomach fell as she heard the cocking of a pistol from behind her.

"The Commune agrees, for the good of humanity." The pistol muzzle was pressed into the back of her head, giving her only a moment before the sound of a gunshot filled her mind…

X-Com Headquarters, Early Evening October 17th 2017

Kate Rayleigh, X-Com Commander

"Reports of a car bomb in Frisk. Given the location and the lack of casualties, it's likely this was whoever was behind the attack cleaning up loose ends. We've asked for the body, but it won't get here until tomorrow." Central's report from the Command Centre made Kate jerk awake, cursing her treacherous eyelids as she sat up from her slouch on the chair in her personal quarters.

Shaking her head to clear the cobwebs, Kate reached up and activated her comms to respond.

"That covers all the agents we were told about, correct?" By the time she had made it to the control room the day before the initial fight was pretty much over, and the manhunt that followed hadn't exactly required her direct attention.

So Kate had left the tactical control of the situation to those managing the Ops Room, while she headed the interactions with the Swiss Police, NATO and of course the Council, as well as the initial discussions with the captured Initiates.

"The other nine have all been dealt with, though like Ghost found out they were all more proficient and stubborn than the so-called Initiates. Dr Vahlen is performing the initial autopsies now, though there needs to be a decision on how many resources we can afford to assign to this new threat when the aliens can strike again anytime." It was a good question, one that had been discussed by the Council less than an hour ago along with what was the far more pertinent question in Kate's mind.

"Also need to work out what to do about the fact that whoever this Advent is, they have knowledge of our base location and a level of understanding about our mission and capabilities. The Council are investigating possible leaks on their side now, but want to have an independent review of the base to address their concerns, they're going to get back to me tomorrow about when." The Initiates had been more than happy to share what knowledge they had about the organisation they'd joined, and Kate assumed that the news about the car bomb/trap for what they'd assumed were elite forces of Advent would only make it easier for them to justify their 'betrayal' to X-Com.

Luckily, given their questions about Harry and his abilities and the lack of knowledge they had about the base's defences, the information Advent seemed to have about X-Com was dated by at least 6 months. This meant it was unlikely they had an active mole in the organisation itself, and that Azrael was right to restrict the information about Ghost to as few a people as possible.

"Understood Commander, we will handle the remaining clean up here. Central out." With the immediate problem addressed, Kate took the opportunity to complete a full body stretch, her muscles cramped and protesting the almost constant stress she had been in for a week.

Not that she could enjoy the feeling for a few moments, as she caught sight of a shadowed figure standing behind her in the reflection of the mirror on her desk, causing her to spin in her chair and reach for a pistol she didn't have equipped.

"Looks like Hermione wasn't exaggerating things here…" Harry was leaning against the doorframe from her work area to her bedroom, though it took a couple of moments for Kate to comprehend the potential implications such a choice of waiting location might have to an outsider as she instead focussed on his new look.

Gone were the robes or military fatigues he usually wore, instead there was a British Dress Uniform that clearly had been tailored to fit almost perfectly to his frame. There were no distinctive collar badges, lanyards or buttons to indicate the regiment Harry's uniform was from, no doubt a deliberate obfuscation to prevent him from offending anyone or attracting the wrong type of attention.

"Haven't you heard of knocking? Bad enough that you disappear without a word for a week and then…" Kate's mind caught up with her mouth at this point, and she stopped with a frustrated sigh that she couldn't quite contain.

"Yeah, this exactly why you wanted me to pop up, right Hermione?" The portrait behind Kate didn't say anything, but Harry seemed to see something there as his expression softened slightly, pushing off the wall to stand properly.

"In my defence, I asked her to tell you I was coming. Still, you've only got an hour before we need to leave, so probably best we talk before you freshen up." Kate wasn't sure which she was looking too less, the current conversation or the funeral of Sabre Team's flight crew, but a snort from behind her interrupted the awkward nature of the conversation.

"Harry means he owes you an apology for what he thinks was a reasonable reaction to last week's disaster, but I've convinced him it wasn't least partially his own fault for being a stubborn arse and trying to keep his issues to himself." Hermione and Kate had several conversations over the last week, and it had helped Kate understand Harry's past considerably better than the man himself had elucidated to.

She also understood that Harry was not good with dealing confrontations that didn't involve explosions and bullets flying, which was why Hermione seemed to have manufactured this little incident and was now ripping the proverbial bandage off the festering wound that had developed in their relationship.

"Fuck Hermione, you aren't pulling any punches today." Harry looked almost like he was physically restraining himself from turning away, but as he looked back to Kate he gave her a small apologetic smile and nodded his head.

"She's right though, I didn't think about how my 'people issues' was actually your problem to deal with as much if not more than mine. And if I don't keep running off when things get a bit much then I would have been better informed of what you'd done. As my better half has spent most of this week 'reminding' me, I can't get upset at not being told things when I'm making it impossible to contact me." It was, as much as she felt slightly guilty admitting it, a balm to Kate's soul that she hadn't been the only one in the wrong about the events surrounding Millstatt.

Though no one had come out and said anything directly, Skyhammer had seemed to support Harry's stance even if they didn't blame her, and the maintenance staff had become noticeably colder in their attitude towards her. Still they weren't wrong, and she wouldn't let Harry take all the blame on himself after a week of judging her own actions and finding them wanting.

"Enough." She held up a hand as Harry paused, making it clear it was her turn to talk.

"Even if you weren't as involved as you could have been, I was the one responsible for the decisions regarding Millstatt. I could've had Skyhammer in reserve in the air, called in additional support from the German army, even had the weapons stored on Sabre's aircraft so they could fall back and rearm as required. I was the one who wanted Sabre to learn a lesson, and for some reason I assumed the Aliens would play ball with their usual forces." While blame game mentality was not a healthy long term psychological outlook, it had been something of a self-awareness awakening for her, and it seemed that Harry had experienced something similar with Hermione's help.

"All of which would have taken influence and resources you can't afford to spend freely with the available resources from the Council with what you knew at the time." Harry was correct with what he said, and it was something that would become even more poignant in the coming weeks with the cost of the Millstatt clean up coming partially out of their available budget.

"So what's the plan Commander?" Harry's question caught her more than slightly off guard, and the question was clearly on her face as he elaborated a moment later.

"I don't think either of us are going to get through this right now, and I don't know about you but I'm done wallowing in the past and playing defensive. We need resources and cash, and I bet these whack jobs that attacked us aren't the only ones that might decide that we are the bad guys for whatever reason. Probably best we find them before they find us." Despite her still sombre mood, Kate couldn't help but smile slightly as she thought about what Harry was suggesting.

It would definitely open up new avenues of activity for them, and if these groups were as well organised as indicated by the Initiates' stories, then there were supplies and more importantly logistical resources they could utilise.

"The Council is already looking into the identities and previous movements of the dead Initiates, but if we are right about Advent's information network that won't lead anywhere. That leaves us the remaining Initiates and the recruiters we know recruited them, as well as this base in the middle of Poland somewhere. While it's a start, there's nothing that we can really action right now…" Kate trailed off as Harry smiled in that all knowing self satisfied way that both made her heart beat that little bit quicker and her temper rise by the same amount.

"Except, if Advent were able to place trackers on all the bodies we found in various parts of Millstatt, they must have been present on the ground in force. While there were a large number of units on site by the end of it all, how many of them will be mysteriously hard if not impossible to find detailed information about?" That, that was a good point and something that had completely passed Kate by, with the aftermath of the attack taking her focus.

Quite a lot of the security cameras and footage from Millstatt had still been functional, as they hadn't exactly been something that the Chrysalids had been interested in, and one of the first things Shen's team had done when they arrived to help with clear up was link many of the camera's directly to X-Com's data uplink.

She hadn't thought to mention it to the NATO forces she had coordinated with, as it wasn't anything they would find useful from an organisational perspective. And with the sheer volume of corpses, as well as retrieving the husk of Sabre Team's transport, Jane imagined no-one had remembered to remove that uplink…

Reaching up for her earpiece, Kate found herself smiling genuinely for the first time in what felt like days.

"Central, get Shen to report to my quarters in 15 minutes. And get one of his Engineers to check the Millstatt uplink files and find out if the village's cameras are still uploading." It was tenuous, if Advent were remotely competent they would have disabled the cameras as soon as they were certain they could get away with it.

But it was another small clue for them to follow, and enough chances might allow them to find a weak strand in the web that Advent seemed to have drawn around themselves...

A/N: Two weeks in Spain was surprisingly what I needed to get back into writing, at least for the moment.

I also took the opportunity when I got back to reinstall X-Com: Enemy Within, as it had been a while (Circa 4 years) since I'd played X-Com 2, let alone the original. There's so much I'd forgotten, and that's going to start featuring in the next chapter, when the first UFO actually appears…

Still, Advent's first move in the game is unravelled, and it's not quite the success they envisioned. X-Com now knows that there are human enemies for them to face, in addition to the aliens, and that gives them a chance to play offence rather than defence.

Let me know what you think as always, and I'll see you all next time.

Defias Out!