AN: Welcome back guys, probably not the update anyone was hoping for but since it has been almost three and a half years since the last chapter what do you expect? I think it's time to put this story to bed as I've lost my interest writing it and wouldn't expect anyone wanting to read it after being away so long. What has happened in these three years away? I've married my fiancé, changed careers twice, and just celebrated the birth of my son seven months ago. Safe to say my life has changed and I forgot about this story. All I can say is sorry for letting this go neglected for so long hope this is a good wrap up for everyone involved.

Chapter 17: End of the Road

It was over, the war was finally over! The Commander's strike team had succeeded in infiltrating the hidden Avatar base and wiping out the Elders whom were pulling the strings of the entire ADVENT force. Their forces were crumbling around the world as the rallying cry given by a rejuvenated Douglas had spurned all civilians and resistance forces into full revolt against their tyranny. All that was left now was to clean up the mess and go home.

The Commander was the last member to return to safety as he'd sent Ghost, Smokey, Dozer, Ice, and Lockdown on ahead as he dealt with the remainder of the Elders' defense forces at the base. Doc, Clay, Reaper, Tower, Vega and Jensen had succeeded in securing the relay beacon allowing Douglas to get through to the general population and all seven souls had returned safely. Tan, Torres, Winters, and Wilkerson had led many covert operations against the ADVENT supply lines and had been able to witness firsthand the revolt up close as they were there when they started. Chris, Johnny, and Deadeye had remained in Omaha away from the Avenger as they were assisting in the rebuilding effort there following a surprise retaliation mission by ADVENT there a month ago. Thankfully no lives were lost as DOA and Black Widow had rallied the residents beforehand and put up a stalwart defense until reinforcements had arrived. Hennessey, Jackson, and Mitchell were left behind at the Avenger to protect home base as the final endgame plans were executed. They were a bit salty at having been left out of the fun, but since they were still recovering from injuries sustained in the Avenger defense ambush mission, it was a smart move. Lucifer unfortunately had not been as lucky as he'd fallen in the ambush mission having distracted the Chrysalid swarm long enough for the others to escape and had blown himself up to take as many of those bastards with him.

The entire base was jubilant with joy as everyone got in on the celebration once everyone had returned and was accounted for; even Douglas was involved in the festivities. The kid had come along way having watched his last relative, his sister, be mercy killed he'd nearly killed himself by alcohol poisoning, but Smokey had saved him in time and convinced him that there was still something worth living for. He'd become more sociable after that and had made friends with Steve and Jesus Jr. which contributed to Smokey and DOA adopting him officially as soon as the war had ended.

Everyone seemed to have a happy ending following the war, Doc and Vega moved in with one another in Milwaukee, Jensen and Hennessey settled down in Tennessee together, Jackson made an NBA team, Mitchell started his UFC career, Ice and Dozer welcomed their first child and returned to their careers, Ghost and Black Widow settled down with Steve and returned to their shooting competitions even representing both the USA and Canada in the Olympics. Reaper and Tower set up a memorial for Lucifer after his sacrifice in the ambush mission to stop the Chrysalid onslaught before remaining in the military as this was the life they'd become accustomed to. The Trumbull Valley Four, as they'd become known, returned to the site of their defense mission and rebuilt the community with the surviving civilians and once again took up the mantle of defending their home against all enemies foreign and domestic. Smokey and DOA both retired following the war and raised Jesus Jr. and Douglas to the best of their abilities as they were the happiest family of four anyone had ever seen. Clay became a surrogate uncle to both Jesus Jr. and Douglas having built up a kinship with the two of them over their time together in XCOM; he stopped in every chance he got when he wasn't touring the world as the front man of the Metal/Rock band "Wolfpack". Johnny and Chris reset up their community with the Amish residents of Pennsylvania and went about a solitary life as the last two remaining members of their race from the original war. Deadeye and Lockdown both ended up together in the backwoods of Alabama having grown closer due to their losses and sought comfort in each other. They welcomed a child into the world and went about making her life as good as possible.

It seemed as though everything was going back to normal, but an ominous glow was seen coming from the ocean floor as the Commander's face paled as he reflected back on the final Elders' words before he'd removed him from this plane of existence.

'Fool, there's a more dangerous threat that we will ever be! Don't you see we've been trying to strengthen ourselves to better combat this force to benefit both of our races, not just ourselves!'

The Commander looked around the situation room and caught the gazes of Bradford, Dr. Tygan, and Lilly Shen before looking back at the image on the screen.

'Whatever you are, we'll be ready to face you; anytime, anywhere, and anyplace.'

He then pressed the emergency button on his dashboard as the glow became more intense and the ground began to shake uncontrollably. After the button had been pressed, the display changed to a microphone button which he pressed immediately to send out a message to the former XCOM soldiers that were willing to come back and defend the planet once again:

"Attention all units, a new enemy has emerged from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. Report to the Avenger in Omaha immediately! It's time to lock and load people!" he barked as the transmission was suddenly cutoff before anymore could be said.

AN: And that's going to be a wrap on the story everyone. I don't believe this is the ending this story deserved, but given the amount of time that has lapsed it's the best I can do. Never fear this series will return with a third installment if and when a new XCOM game is made so we have that to look forward to, keep your eyes out for a new story coming soon as I've been working on one recently that I'm almost ready to post, hope you guys show up for that one as well!

To those who submitted characters I hope I did them justice hear and portrayed them as you'd all imagined, thank you to Avther for Tower, ryzlow98 for Lucifer, Reaper115 for Reaper, and akoslows for Douglas. I hope their endings in this story are also suitable to you guys as I kind of came up with them on the fly. Hope everyone has a great day and I hope to see you guys in the next story I post on the site. Until then, drop a review and let me know your thoughts see ya later this is "The Nasty One" signing off!

PRAK #TheNastyOne