Pantheon Rising
Chapter 1 - Genesis

Xabiar's Note: Hello everyone, I'm very happy for this to be the first XCOM story/spin-off set in the same universe as Advent Directive and my other XCOM stories which isn't written by myself or someone in the Editing Team. Areleh has been working on this idea for a while, and was very drawn to the Pantheon Special Forces group I came up with, enough to want to cover the war from their perspective. If the first chapter is any indication, this is going to be very good, and I look forward to where it goes and working with him along the way.

Mount Olympus - United States of America
2/24/17 - 1600 Local Time

"Begin."

The heavy metal doors exploded outward, blown clear off their hinges by a man wielding a warhammer taller than most adult humans. There was no pause given for the awesome display to be processed. Instead, he sprinted into the room with the warhammer slamming aside anything and everything that had the misfortune of being in his way. Metal barricades were smashed aside as if they were children's toys and the concrete walls were sundered with little more effort than shattering porcelain.

Around him, the very air distorted as an aura of raw destruction formed. Flecks of purple and black began to flit through the air in a display that would have been dazzling had it not been so destructive. Barricades began to flake and weaken where that strange air touched, though that was hardly needed for him to continue to progress. One hand thrust outward, directing a beam of corrosive psionic power to obliterate a cluster of targets. He twisted and crushed one target with the warhammer while another was blasted over a barricade from a quick snap kick that had enough power to shatter ribs.

Staccato bursts of gauss fire caught his attention as the man shifted positions to avoid the gunfire. His aura was in full effect now. No longer merely a shimmering distortion, the air crackled and screamed in violent protest. The veil of the Psionosphere was ripped open and the pure destructive forces shredded anything that had the misfortune of being near him. Many projectiles simply disintegrated before ever getting near him. Even without the danger of truly being hurt by them though, the weapons presented a threat.

And threats were eliminated with extreme prejudice.

Rather than channel another beam of psionic energy through his hands, the man spun on his heels and brought the warhammer high above his head before smashing it into the ground. Metal plates cracked and warped from the force of impact, even before a wave of psionic energy roared forth and sundered everything in its path.

Several more emplacements began to fire gauss rounds at his position and were dispatched with equal parts ruthless efficiency and private indulgence. The warhammer alone was sufficient to wreak havoc against the assembled targets and defenses. Augmented as he was, operating at a level far above an Olympian athlete, and bolstered through the use of psionics, it wasn't even a contest. Almost as soon as he had begun, the man was across the field. Pure devastation was left in his wake.

"Time." An alarm sounded throughout the area, a piercing, artificial noise that could not be mistaken for anything else. "Thirty-six point seven seconds. A new record… both for time, and damage to the training yard." The lighting adjusted to a much brighter, more artificial level. With much-improved lighting, it became abundantly apparent just how thoroughly the obstacle course had been obliterated. The deck plating had been dented in more than a dozen places and outright ripped up in two. Few of the barricades or walls were left intact. Everywhere he had gone, the course showed obvious signs of decay and destruction.

"Just doing my job, ma'am." The man looked at one of the cameras and grinned before he began to bounce in place, clearly still riding high off the adrenaline rush. "'Maximum damage, immediate effect. No restraint, no concern for collateral damage.' I believe those are the exact words you used when outlining my position's duties." There was no hiding the smug pride that colored his words. In less than a minute, he had scored simulated kills against more than a hundred targets, destroyed several fortified positions with accompanied gun nests, and had even managed to break the floor in several places.

In the command room overlooking the football-sized field, Kwon Seul-Gi stood with one hand cradling a tablet as she reviewed the footage and began compiling notes for further review while other analysts marked places for her review. A near-perpetual mask of stony professionalism bordering on annoyance proved inscrutable. If she was further annoyed by the man's over-zealousness, she did not show it. "Get cleaned up and get something to eat. Since Field Seven is out of commission for the time being, we'll be conducting the team exercises on Field Three."

As she turned to leave the observation deck, Kwon allowed a thin, humorless smile to crack that stony mask. "And ARES."

"Yes, ATHENA?"

"Why don't you give the crew a hand and finish leveling the field before you get cleaned up since you seem to have extra energy to burn off. ZEUS, NIKE, and HESTIA will be waiting, so don't take too long."

A slab of concrete crashed to the ground poignantly to his left just as she finished, finally forcing Leo Booker to look slightly abashed as he turned and properly surveyed his handiwork.

"Yes ma'am."

Seven Months Previously

Everett, Washington
7/23/16 - 0600 Local Time

Amidst the clatter of barricades being set in place, a low whistle cut through the cold morning air. Leo Booker stepped off of the bus and looked around with an impressed gaze. He had been to Everett before, but just what he was seeing now was something new.

The massive parking lots of the old factory were filled with all manner of tents as far as the eye could see. Jeeps and Humvees zoomed past, the song of horns blaring broken only by the whine and crash of heavy machinery. Barricades and guard towers were being erected just as quickly as materials could be delivered while missile defense systems and trucks were being moved into position and deployed.

With the Collective having been dealt a decisive loss after their failed invasion of Japan, it was clear that ADVENT was expecting some manner of reprisal. While an invasion meant anywhere bordering the Pacific was a valid target, it seemed as though ADVENT and Leo were in agreement that the Collective would try and make a statement by invading the United States.

There was a surrealness to it all as Leo walked across the lot. A year ago, he would have found the idea of aliens visiting Earth at all to have been the source of several jokes and something to be readily dismissed. Six months ago, even after the attacks on Hamburg and Wenzhou, he would have considered the idea of an actual alien army landing and launching full-scale invasions across the planet to be ludicrous.

As he approached a larger tent, Leo paused and looked over at an assembled squad. The squad leader was busy giving some kind of overview of the Vitakarian races with several poster-length images to reference. Each man in the squad sat in their chairs with straight faces as they discussed various means of combating aliens. There was a sobering degree of seriousness of their faces. This was reality now. They had to learn or die.

Even with so clear a reminder of the reality humanity was facing, he couldn't quite shake off that tiny feeling in the back of his head that he had gone crazy. He passed an inspection point, handed over his ID to be cleared and headed deeper into the burgeoning base.

Unsurprisingly, Leo found the inside of one large tent to be nearly as much of a mess as the outside lot. Crates of all sorts were stacked everywhere; some were simply stacked up temporarily and were near-constantly being juggled around, while others seem to have been set in place deliberately to provide structural support and relatively flat surfaces to place equipment on.

"I take it you're Operative Booker?"

Leo turned and found himself towering a full head over a woman who looked to be from the Middle East dressed in an ADVENT uniform. She was rather attractive and held a tablet cradled in one arm, looking like an aide-de-camp.

However, something about how she stared up at him with an expectant look set the hairs on the back of his neck on end. And the pins she wore on her collar signified something, but he couldn't quite remember what. Too much new information in too short a time. It was important though...

"Well? Do all you farm boys stare slack-jawed at a pretty lady and keep them waiting? Thought you had better manners than that." Her voice was warm and faintly accented from her homeland, somewhere in the Middle East, yet she clearly had no trouble with the language.

With that metaphorical slap to the face, Leo found his words and gave a quick nod. "Yeah, I'm Operative Booker. You are…?"

"Kelmendi. Lancer Officer Hana Kelmendi, former Shayetet 13." She spoke each word with a faintly feral grin, her Israeli origin now clear. "I'll be leading our Lancer Unit."

After a heartbeat to process that declaration, Leo quickly snapped a fist to his chest as he realized he was standing in front of his commanding officer, and not an aide as he had first assumed. The gesture seemed to surprise her for a second, or perhaps it was the speed with which such a large man shifted from a relaxed form to at-attention, but he relaxed after she returned the salute.

"I didn't realize anyone else from the unit was on-site already. I figured I'd be the first one out here." Leo chose his words carefully so as to begin digging himself out of the hole he put himself into. More than one story exchanged over mealtime began in such a fashion, and he had no desire to add his own to the list.

"Lost out on that honor by about six hours, farm boy," she turned and started walking down the avenue, clearly expecting him to follow along. "I just got word that your transport was due to arrive from Spokane an hour ago if that makes you feel any better."

As they passed along rows and rows of tents, Leo felt comfortable enough to venture into further conversation. "I admit, this isn't quite what I expected when I got the orders to deploy up here. The impression I got from the Chancellor's unveiling address was that ADVENT was a bit more…" He paused and vaguely gestured around them. "Bit more ready than this."

Hana shrugged while working away at the tablet. "As I understand it, the only military bases in the state large enough to house this many soldiers this close to Seattle are all to the south of the city. Not gonna help us hold it if they come at us from the north." There was a pause again as they split to allow a small convoy of troops and vehicles through before continuing their walk. "Though I am unsure of how they found a space large enough to set up a base like this."

"Ah, that I can answer," Leo said with a grin. "Solaris Industries maintained a factory here up until a few months back." He gestured down to one end of the lot, where the outline of a Solaris Industries logo could still be made out against the sun-bleached background on an ad tower. "They built a larger facility in Virginia to handle their expanded manufacturing needs. A friend of mine worked as part of the crew that moved what equipment they were keeping. The rest… Guess someone saw an empty factory lot and decided it was good enough for them to start putting up tents."

"Lucky us," Hana remarked as she stopped in front of a tent, gesturing for him to step inside. "This'll be home for now. The rest of the unit should be here by tomorrow night. For now, pick a cot, stow your gear, and follow me. I'll show you our designated armory and get you suited up for the first time. If there's space or time, I'll see if I can't get us a slot on one of the ranges."

A pair of ADVENT soldiers passed, wearing the angular black armor that gave a distinctly aggressive impression. Still, Leo had to admit to himself it looked like solid armor. Reports were that it was functionally bulletproof compared to conventional ballistics, though how it fared against the alien's plasma weaponry was something he wasn't too keen on finding out first hand.

"Come on, Booker. I'd like to get this done before the aliens show up."

Leo tossed his bag on the closest cot and turned to hurry out of the tent. A lot of things that needed doing to get up to speed before the aliens attack, and he wasn't about to be the last one ready for when the aliens showed up for a fight.

New York City, New York
7/24/16 - 0845 Local Time

"Come on, Sarah." Harold Rivers called over one shoulder as he jogged up Fifth Avenue. The streets were busy, as they always were in New York, and this morning was no different. Horns blared and a hundred sounds vied for supremacy in the city's air, but the man paid the noise little mind. Instead, he continued to jog, weaving through the crowds and pushing further up the avenue.

As he paused at the intersection of 47th Street and glanced west, Harold's eyes scanned the skyline where several of Time Square's skyscrapers had once stood. Most of the debris had been cleared, allowing most to resume moving on with their lives. However, the remains of one of the Times Square towers could still be seen from where he stood, and Harold briefly felt the pain of that day flashback to him, no less painful all those months later.

Tightening his jacket, Harold turned back and smiled. "Almost there, Sarah. Let's finish the jog strong." He hurried across the street and further up the avenue and turning until he stopped at his workplace with a melodramatic huff after checking his watch. "Not great, Sarah. I think we're gonna have to lay off the snacks."

At his feet, the golden retriever gave a soft whine and licked her chops, eyeing the man expectantly. Harold sighed and fished one of the peanut butter cookie treats from his pocket and held it out for the retriever. "Last one." The dog smiled and gleefully snapped the treat up with a wag of her tail before the pair climbed the stairs and headed inside.

As the elevator doors opened on his floor, Harold fished out his office keys from one pocket. Sarah trotted dutifully behind him, careful not to knock into anything as they moved through the hallways. Turning one corner, Harold paused briefly when he noticed someone standing outside of his door. "Roger. I didn't think I'd be seeing you this morning."

The middle-aged man with hair already beginning to show spots of grey smiled as Harold approached and gave him a quick handshake. "Well, I was in the neighborhood with some ADVENT business and I figured I'd stop by for a quick chat."

Rather than respond immediately, Harold's keys jingled and he opened the door to his office. With a whistle, Sarah ducked between the two men and made a beeline for a large, soft blue pillow and flopped on it, careful to keep the two men in eyesight as she did so.

"We've had this talk before, Roger. I'm not looking to re-enlist."

Roger ran one hand over his cropped hair and sighed. "Look, I get it; after what happened that day, I-"

"Frankly, Roger, no." Harold shook his head and held out one hand for silence. "You really don't get it. You weren't in the city when the Ethereal attacked. You didn't feel experience every painful experience of your life, all at once, raw as if it all just happened. You weren't trapped like that for hours. You-" He stopped himself, closing his eyes and breathing deeply. Heat had begun to build in those words as Harold spoke, moving into the office as he talked. For all his training and experience, those were still memories Harold did not dare face.

"My schedule has been booked ever since that day. I'm still booked for months," he said, emphasizing the continued busyness of his schedule, months after the event. "Even if I weren't well past the enlistment cutoff age, I did my time. Three tours in Iraq and a tour in Syria. I went there and came back. Not everyone else did. And then I moved on with my life. I don't hunt down people anymore."

Surreptitiously, the TV that sat in the waiting area of his office was tuned to one of the news channels, displaying a new recruitment center that had opened up in the city, despite protests and several arrests. "ADVENT has plenty of people lining up for the chance to kill aliens, but I'm not looking to fight. Not anymore."

"With ADVENT, there's no longer a cutoff age. As long as you can-"

"I told you. The answer is no." He fixed the other man with a hard stare, and for a moment the equally middle-aged Asian man looked like the Marine who had marched through the War on Terror all those years ago. "Unless ADVENT comes out with a way to make the aliens dance and sing their way straight off the planet and into hell, I'm not joining."

There was a pregnant, tense pause. "Now if you'll excuse me, my nine o'clock is almost here." The tone Harold spoke with left no uncertainty that the conversation was over. No response was given, except for the soft click of the door shutting as the other man left.

No sooner had the door shut than Sarah stood from her pillow and walked over to the side of the desk where Harold sat. A soft, plaintive whine sounded from the young dog's throat and she put her chin against his leg. He smiled, despite his own inner turmoil, and gently scratched the golden retriever's ears.

"When did I become your patient, huh?" There was no answer to the question, just the gentle whoosh of a tail wag. "Alright. Let's get ready for our first real patient today. Where's your work vest? Go get it."

Everett, Washington
7/27/16 - 1448 Local Time

"I call bullshit, Sung," Leo said flatly

"I'm telling you, XCOM has soldiers that can jump eighty feet in the air or punch the engine block out of a car." The South Korean woman enthusiastically pantomimed each act as she spoke from her corner of the tent. The unit had assembled and was going through weapon maintenance training and practice.

"I read some of the reports from the Japanese Invasion." Corey Frank, a former Army Ranger, stood by his cot and was checking his pistol from every possible angle. "Shields made of purple energy, UFOs being tossed like discuses. Hell one of the reports, I think it was Shizuoka, said that an XCOM operative was sighted regularly jumping ten plus meters into enemy groups. I figure if it's in an ADVENT report, its gotta be legitimate, right?"

"I do not know about these claims of superhuman deeds, but if XCOM would bring more of these MEC soldiers, then I would be most afraid of being Collective infantryman." Vyacheslav Martynov spoke up from behind the large table they had crammed into the tent, with parts from his Gauss machine gun carefully set across the surface. "They were most effective."

"What I don't get… Most reports from the attacks in Japan seem to paint a picture of an army without any training." Hana was busy walking around the tent, eyeing every Operative and checking to make sure they didn't do anything to damage the Gauss weaponry. "They just threw numbers at us. For a bunch of aliens with such advanced technology, they got kicked around pretty bad."

"I wouldn't say their whole army lacks training. I mean, look at those aliens with the armored suits. The report from Shibetsu paints those as pretty dangerous," Corey noted while moving on to work on his shotgun. "Not a whole lot of those aliens went down. They kept pulling back every time they got an injury. Gotta kill them decisively, or they'll just be back."

"My money says whatever leader they had in charge of the Japan invasion got thrown out an airlock." Leo finished disassembling his rifle and started putting back together at a slow pace, careful to examine each part. "Whatever happens next, I'm thinking the Collective puts someone competent in charge. It's gonna be ugly for us, that's for sure."

"You make it sound like we're gonna lose." Seo-Hyun seemed almost offended as she glanced around the tent, looking for some kind of support. Some of the other Lancers shared the South Korean woman's perturbed look.

"What I'm saying is that I don't think we can count on all of the Collective's attacks to go so well for us in the future," the former Navy SEAL clarified with a sigh. "We have to be grossly outnumbered. We're one species on one planet. How many planets do they have? The aliens probably outnumber us at least ten to one."

"You read reports from XCOM, yes?" Vasilev offered as he set the massive, assembled weapon carefully on the ground. "Most of these aliens are not so hard to kill. But their weaponry. That is most dangerous."

"Exactly!" Sung declared triumphantly. "And after that fight, there must be loads of recovered weapons and tech. Between XCOM and ADVENT working on it, it's only a matter of time until we catch up and-" She slipped into her native tongue and said something that none of them knew how to translate, but all understood the meaning easily enough thanks to the accompanied one-two punch.

Hana glanced over at Leo, whose face continued to be contorted in deep thought. "You don't look convinced."

"Still gotta weather the invasion until then," Leo said simply, letting the matter drop. "In the meantime, I don't know about you, ladies and gentlemen, but I'm not missing chow time."

Wahiawa, Hawai'i
7/31/16 - 2254 Local Time

NCTAMS PAC Navy Base was quiet, with many personnel enjoying some desperately needed R&R. With the invasion of Australia and the Collective's extending reach across Oceania, ADVENT bases across Hawai'i had been put on alert. The tension had been at its height at the beginning of the invasion of Japan with many on the islands fearing that they might be next. Those fears had largely dissipated in the wake of the Collective's embarrassing withdrawal out of the county, save for a single city they had captured.

Life moved on for the islanders, and even many of the troops stationed on the islands had begun to relax. Some had even begun to wonder privately if perhaps ADVENT was preparing some kind of invasion of Oceania and Australia to push the aliens off the planet already. Skeptics tried to point out the ludicrous nature of such an act but were as often not rebuffed with questions on the previous likelihood of an alien invasion proper.

"I'm telling you, England, this war is gonna wrap up quick." David Miller patrolled around the perimeter of the naval base with a professional, yet bored, gait. Beside him, Shelly England marched in step with him with a look that indicated she clearly did not believe the claim.

"Think about it; the alien freaks hit Australia without warning before ADVENT was even set up. Once we got rolling and set up, they tried to hit Japan and we kicked their asses." There was no denying the conviction in his voice. He was one of the more outspoken voices on the base.

Shelly glanced at him and gave a thin smile. This was not the first time they had this discussion; David was staunchly pro-ADVENT after Japan, whereas she continued to have reservations.

"Overconfidence was the Collective's downfall in that battle. Don't let it be yours too," she said softly.

The pair continued their patrol around the base, the evening passing much as it had every night prior. The air was unusually cool and quite welcome for this time of year. Distantly there came the sounds of tourists having fun into the late night, but more and more the quiet of the night reigned.

There was a silence on the wind that should have been peaceful, but something began to nag at the back of Shelly's brain. It took several minutes before she realized what was bothering her as they stopped at one of their checkpoints.

"Where are Burgess and Horn at?" She stopped marching and glanced at David.

He stopped a few paces away and turned to cock his head towards the sky in thought. "... Now that you mention it, we should have seen them by now."

Clutching the radio at his chest, David turned to look back behind their patrol route."Burgess, this is Miller; come in, over."

Silence.

"Burgess, Miller; radio check-in, over."

After a few moments of continued silence, David gave a small shake of his head."Base, Miller; I can't raise Burgess on the radio. Anyone have any idea where he and Horn are, over?" He let the radio go for a second and sighed in frustration. "I swear if those two are off clowning again…"

Shelly wanted to smile and laugh at that; the pair of men were quite well-known on base for their shenanigans. Nothing was ever done that could truly be called unprofessional or too far, but the men had a knack for finding inventive ways of earning themselves punishment. Even so, something about the situation felt wrong and she simply clutched her rifle slightly tighter and began to scan the trees for threats.

"... Base, Miller. Come in, over."

The silence over the base became even more oppressive as the pair turned to one another.

Nothing appeared wrong, except for the fact that their radios suddenly weren't working. No alarms, no sounds of panic. Technical malfunctions happened on occasion, but for system failure of this magnitude, there was only one real explanation.

Sabotage.

When the first UFO streaked across the sky and began bombing the base with those brilliant green weapons of theirs, Shelly was not nearly as shocked as she should have been.

New York City, New York
8/1/16 - 0937 Local Time

"How's the arm today, Monica?"

Harold sat in one of three large burgundy chairs that made up the consultation area of his office. In his lap lay a notepad, though it was left blank for the moment. Instead, his attention lay with the young woman with auburn hair who sat in one of the open chairs.

She cradled one arm as if it were injured; any movement made was done without any life in the limb. Despite the apparent injury, Monica seemed in relatively good spirits. She smiled at the psychiatrist and gestured briefly with her good hand. "It's not so bad today. I barely felt any pain this morning when I got out of bed. The medication seems to be helping a lot."

"That's good. Very good." Harold made a few notes of her progress before looking back up at her. "Steady progress is always good to see." With a reassuring smile, he pulled a collection of papers from beneath the notepad. "I got the test results back from Dr. Kathrine. Her adjusted prognosis is promising. It looks like your body is beginning to readjust and restore the nerve sensitivity to your arm. She's hopeful that when you go in for testing next month, we'll be able to avoid further surgery."

He extended the papers to Monica for her review, with the top-most part devoted to several images that had been taken a week after the attack in New York. Her arm had a pallid color that gave the appearance of a dead limb, with much of her forearm hair already fallen out.

Like a small percentage of others affected by the Ethereal's psionic attacks, she had been left with physical symptoms and manifestations of the event; her arm had been left in an apparent death-like state ever since she had awoken from the aftermath. Only through intensive medical intervention had her entire arm not required amputation. It had a much healthier complexion now, though it had atrophied from lack of use over the months.

"I know that it's hard to think back on that day, but we have to remember that pain isn't always a bad thing. With time, we learn to move past the pain. It reminds us of those-."

Sarah's sudden barking from the other room broke his train of thought, and Harold excused himself to see exactly what the cause of her commotion was. As a trained therapy animal, Sarah never made such noise while within the office before.

The reason for the canine's outburst was made apparent when Harold looked up at the TV. Dozens of UFOs could be seen approaching the Los Angeles skyline. The newscast flashed over to what he next recognized as the Seattle Space Needle. Beneath the images and casters who were reporting on the developments, Harold read from the news ticker something he had never hoped to read.

/ COLLECTIVE FORCES LAUNCH INVASION OF WEST COAST / EVACUATION ONLY HALF DONE, SAY OFFICIALS / PRESIDENT TREDUANT MOVES ARMED FORCES TO DEFCON 2 / HONOLULU CAPTURED BY COLLECTIVE FORCES, ISLANDER'S FATE UNKNOWN /

A soft gasp briefly stole Harold's attention away from the television where he saw Monica standing in the doorway with her one good hand at her mouth in shock. Sarah reacted to the distress in the air and trotted over to lean against the woman's leg, careful not to disturb her afflicted arm. For a time, they watched in silence as the news unfolded.

"I think it might be prudent for us to call the session early today, Monica." Most of the color had drained from her face as she sat and stared at the TV, only barely nodding in acknowledgment. "I have some personal things I need to check. Give me a moment and I'll see about getting your prescription refilled before calling a cab." He turned away from the TV, which had now switched to a map of the West Coast, indicating the cities of Seattle, Portland, and Los Angeles were coming under attack.

Closing the door behind him, Harold picked his cell phone up from the table and quickly dialed his parents. They had moved out to California less than a year ago, citing a desire to see more of nature and clean living supposedly available out there. His heart sank then when there was click on the line and an unfamiliar automated message began playing.

"We're sorry, all circuits are busy now. Please try your call again later."

The Citadel, Mission Control
8/1/16 - 0714 Local Time

Kwon Seul-Gi stood beside one of the large flatscreens that highlighted North America as well as Hawaii. Assembled with her with more than two dozen ADVENT analysts, commanders, and engineers. Most looked as haggard and weary as she was; the first alarm from Hawaii went out more than three hours prior, which left far too many running on far too little sleep.

Throughout the Citadel, men and women were moving with a purpose as they delivered messages, data packets, and reports. Soldiers stood at every doorway and checkpoint; this was, after all, a known location to the Collective. Even if it was a fortress now, they had proven they were bold enough to attack fortresses before.

"This cannot be overstated; with the loss of Hawaii, all existing communications in the region are functionally compromised. We have to assume that the Collective has gained access to most, if not all military stations on the islands, including NCTAMS PAC and the attached NAVCOMPAR sites. This means they have access to all existing telecommunications systems utilized by the United States in the region and across the globe."

"We severed and isolated every system we could, but due to the nature of NAVCOMPARS we can't simply disconnect it from the network," one of the engineers elaborated as all eyes turned to face him. "Too much of the communications infrastructure is tied in with it to function; we shut it out and we risk having whole parts of our global telecommunications network go dark."

Kwon nodded grimly before continuing. "Engineering teams are working now to find a way to disconnect it from the rest of the network without completely compromising our ability to coordinate and communicate, but it will take time. In the meantime, we have confirmed reports of polymorphic worms in the least restrictive parts of our network, probably planted by CODEX intelligences. They're gathering everything they can."

"Are they spreading?" Someone in the back asked, just barely audible above the chaos in the base.

"If I were you I would consider that question, and just what computer worms are, for a moment." Kwon pursed her lips in obvious annoyance but returned to a more neutral expression. "Efforts to contain them are underway, but they are spreading as they discover attached networks."

The assembled crowd began to murmur and discuss matters until Kwon drew their attention back to herself. "Until such a time as we retake Hawaii, or completely isolate its network from the larger whole and do a complete systems sweep to ensure no Collective backdoors or agents are in place, any and all communications to do with personnel, training, deployments; anything approaching sensitive material needs to be routed through secondary communications networks in the region"

"Most of our other communications networks aren't designed for that kind of data volume." Another one of the engineers present looked dismayed at the proposed idea. "They could all start to collapse under the strain."

Kwon stared at the man with a flat gaze. "Then you had better hope that XCOM agrees to consult with us on solving this issue. I'm told Dr. Shen and his team would be invaluable in solving the dilemma. But until then-"

"New contact! On approach to San Francisco."

Heads swiveled as the analyst called out the latest contact. Kwon noticed that the Commander of XCOM and Commander Christiaens were both discussing this new contact. Something in their faces unsettled Kwon, and she was briefly tempted to move closer and listen.

"Let them worry about their theater," she called out, regaining the attention of the group assembled. "The engineering teams are dismissed, but the rest of you need to focus. Seattle is our concern. It is our only concern." The crowd thinned and she was left with a dozen people who, like her, had the task of coordinating the defense of an entire metropolitan area.

"Olympia has been taken, and the Collective army is securing the area. Kent and Tacoma have been selected as the first rallying areas for our southern defense. Unfortunately, this does mean that our bases in the area need to be evacuated and sufficiently scuttled."

"The Collective isn't ignoring the north either. We're tracking transports on approach to Mt. Vernon. Our outermost defense points will need to be reinforced if they're to hold for any length of time. To that end, I've received word that ADVENT is deploying what Lancer squads we have in the area to assist the Legion."

Marysville, Washington
8/1/16 - 0755 Local Time

"We're being deployed to Region 37, an area along Interstate 5 near the northern edge of Marysville," Hana explained as the squad rode in the back of a Humvee which roared down the road. There was no traffic headed north, except for the ADVENT convoy screaming along. All along the southbound side though, cars were stacked up as people desperately struggled to flee the coming aliens. Some had even begun abandoning their vehicles in a desperate bid to flee the coming battle.

"ADVENT has several defense encampments set up along the northern corridor here. We're being deployed here, among one of the most northern ones, as reinforcements." There was no missing the tension in her voice as she briefed the squad. Leo noticed he was clutching his weapon with a vice-like grip, and other members of the squad were similarly tense.

Ever since those alarms went off, Leo had felt like a steel cable ready to snap. All of them were on edge now, but there was a calmness there too that he had grown to expect from his time with the SEALs. The others looked like they were getting into similar headspaces. They had their training, their equipment. They were ready for this. It was time to fight back.

"To be clear, our mission is not to stop the aliens advance," Hana stated emphatically. "Preliminary satellite imagery collected shows that while the main alien push is coming up from the south, the Collective is still pushing down from the north with at least fifteen thousand troops. The bulk of our northern forces are mustering from Everett and Lake Stevens. "

A pair of maps were passed around as she continued with their briefing. "There are three checkpoints for our deployment; Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie. Alpha is our initial defensive line. It's not much but cover and some basic field supplies. It is not expected to hold long, a few minutes after contact with their main fighting force. Bravo is our first fallback point. Combat engineers are setting up defensive fortifications as quickly as they can."

As if to emphasize that fact, Leo glanced out of the Humvee for a moment and saw what looked like a concrete pillbox in the middle of an intersection below the highway. All around it, men and women were busy trying to finish last-second preparations.

"At checkpoint Charlie, once we get the signal from Command, we retreat across the river and blow the bridges between Marysville and Everett. With the defense batteries along the coast, and with the bridges destroyed, Collective forces will have to push east along avenues we have prepared and con-"

The Humvee in front of theirs suddenly erupted in a green inferno. Several Mutons appeared from ahead at one intersection's corner, moving into the open and began firing on the convoy. Humvees spun and rolled wildly across the road as tires and axles were ripped apart from plasma fire, while others had to swerve to avoid colliding into less fortunate vehicles.

As their Humvee skidded to a halt, Vyacheslav and Leo both stepped out and began providing suppressing fire while the other Lancers evacuated the vehicle. Other Lancer Squads were maneuvering in a similar fashion as it became evident that the aliens were pushing south faster than expected. Ahead of them, more and more Mutons began to move from around building corners and treelines.

Hana crouched by the wheel well and looked back to the squad. "We have to get out of the intersection. Here's the plan. Frank, Seo-Hyun; you two take point. We'll make for that building just over there. Booker and I will proceed next. Two by two, with Vyacheslav and Cortez bringing up the rear."

The two wide men nodded in confirmation as they continued to lay down suppression fire with their machine guns. As the two largest men, Vyacheslav and Cortez both wielded massive gauss machine guns which they used to lay down a sweltering layer of suppressive fire. Any alien foolhardy, or stupid, enough to cross their lines were swiftly cut down.

Corey and Sung both flew out from behind the Humvee, the South Korean just a hair faster. Each hit the wall with a thud, the armor absorbing the impact, and began to provide cover fire from their new vantage point. One Muton roared in pain as its arm was mangled by their gauss fire before another shot blew apart its skull.

"We've got incoming fish tanks!" Leo looked over at Sung, who pointed down the road. Sure enough, a line of Andromedons began to march into the open with a small fleet of drones floating through the air behind them. More Mutons were marching in formation with them as well. This wasn't just a scouting element. Their army was here.

"Shit, we need to move. On three, Booker."

Leo dropped down behind the Humvee and moved to the edge, getting ready to run. Out of one corner of his eye, he saw one Lancer squad disappear in a series of flashes from plasma grenades. He tightened his grip on the rifle and took a steadying breath.

"One, two, THREE!"

The Citadel, Mission Control
8/1/16 - 0924 Local Time

"Lancer Squad Six-Two reports successful detonation of both bridges beyond Portland-Vancouver."

"Ranger Team reports one casualty on the Burnside Bridge. ADVENT Trooper squads are moving to reinforce the bridge and assist."

"Mariner Team reports insufficient forces to hold their position in Region 24. Cites commanding force presence. Requesting reinforcements."

"Divert the seventh and fifteenth units to reinforce Mariner Team!"

"The reserves from Anaheim just reached Long Beach and are engaging the enemy forces now."

"What do you mean 'It's not working?'"

It was near chaos within the Citadel, yet ADVENT was acquitting itself well nonetheless. As battlefield information was received, it was immediately relayed and filed; acts were prioritized and reinforcements or relief were ordered up as needed. Even so, it was brutal work that was stretching ADVENT and XCOM to the limit.

"I've got reports coming in of firefights breaking out all across western Snohomish County, and I'm hearing word that multiple breaches have occurred across the northern defense corridor. What the hell is happening in my theater?" General Owen Hachette of the Seattle Legion was looking considerably agitated as he spoke with Kwon.

The North Korean woman stood with her hands behind her back, overlooking one of the larger screens that highlighted the Seattle battlefront. "We made projections based on the aliens landing patterns ahead of each of the cities. At each location, they established their landing zone and secured the area before they began marching."

"How does this explain Snohomish, Colonel Seul-Gi?"

"I'm getting there, sir," she said tersely. "As the aliens began landing around Mt. Vernon, they began to scramble our satellite feeds, obscuring their landing sites."

"And that excuses this… how? ADVENT gained clear intel on Collective landing patterns in Japan and-"

"They didn't do it during the invasion of Japan," XCOM's Central Officer Jackson reported, looking up from her tablet behind Kwon. The pair of ADVENT officers turned to look at her fully for a moment before she added, "Or their invasion of Oceania. It was only a tactic they used prior to their full-scale invasion."

The North Korean officer offered the woman a brief nod of gratitude before turning back to the agitated General, ignoring the rising ire she had for her superior. "So when they began scrambling the feeds, we put together a rough time frame based on the army's movements in the south. We thought we had their pattern."

"But you were wrong." Hachette gave a thin, humorless smile as he looked at her, almost daring her to say something and give him a reason to dismiss her. Sotto voce, she faintly heard him say "And I'm left with the incompetent Korean…" Not everyone in ADVENT, it seemed, was willing to work together for the better of mankind without regard to where each other came from.

"... Yes, sir," she responded with forced calm. "It appears as though the army elected to immediately begin marching south. Forces were still being moved into place based on those initial projections. As a result, our initial defense points along the northernmost areas were not yet reinforced or prepared when the aliens began their attack."

"I don't like losing troops needlessly."

"With all due respect, General, no one does. We miscalculated. However, we have begun to reroute reinforcing troops and ordered combat engineers at checkpoints Bravo and Charlie to begin fortifying additional areas to accommodate the increased ADVENT presence."

"Give me one reason I shouldn't remove you from the theater, order our troops back to Everett and blow the bridges right now. I don't intend on throwing good money after bad."

Kwon narrowed her eyes briefly at that thinly-veiled threat but maintained her composure. After all, she had faced worse and more obvious opposition rising through the ranks of the North Korean special forces leadership. Instead, she turned over several facts and ideas in her head in short order before answering with a faint grin.

"Because we need time to maneuver and ready the artillery to the south of Marysville. If we forfeit the city before those are ready, then the Collective will have time to establish fortifications and combat bridges to begin moving into Everett. Our fortifications and troops to the east will be out of position and our terrain advantage wasted."

The General looked at her, and for a moment seemed ready to say something else. Instead, he simply turned on his heels and marched over to another analyst and began to grill them on similar matters.

Not concerned with his bruised pride, Kwon turned and began to pour over the incoming data. Troops were in danger, and if they were not careful then more lives would be lost needlessly. Defeat was not a certainty, and she intended to ensure that everything was done to keep ADVENT in the fight.

Marysville, Washington
8/1/16 - 0847 Local Time

Plasma fire rained down around Leo as he and his unit ran through the streets. With the chaos of the alien army smashing down upon their unaware convoy, things had rapidly spiraled into a complete free-for-all. Several Lancer units had already been wiped out, though many others had made a break for the woods or any potential cover. The garrisoned elements of ADVENT's army were doing what they could, but they were not prepared for this.

"SEATTLECOM, Lancer Squad Five-Seven," Hana slammed into cover behind a building as they took a moment. "We are en route to Rally Point Bravo. Collective forces primarily composed of Andromedons, Mutons, and Drones. Request immediate CAS. Our coordinates are-"

She looked over to Corey who quickly began flashing hands at her, signifying their location. "Coordinates are forty-eight degrees three minutes thirty-five seconds north, one hundred twenty-two degrees ten minutes thirty-five seconds west. Over."

As she spoke, Leo and Vyacheslav took up overwatch positions and began firing on a trio of Mutons that had been in pursuit of them for some time. The beasts bellowed in defiance as the first spray of bullets caught the first alien in the chest. It didn't have the good sense to die; instead, it barreled forward with an inhuman roar and sent a pick-up truck tumbling over before its grievous wounds were realized and it fell over with a groan. The two survivors had the sense to take cover behind nearby vehicles.

"Lancer Squad Five-Seven, SEATTLECOM-FOUR. CAS is en-route to your position. ETA sixty seconds. Out."

"Got CAS incoming, sixty seconds," Hana relayed to the squad as they began laying down overlapping fields of fire on the surviving Mutons. More began to arrive, attracted by the sounds of gunfire, and immediately moved to cover. "Franks, Seo-Hyun; watch our flank." One Muton broke from cover and charged one unlucky ADVENT trooper. Before Leo could bring his rifle across to target it, the alien punched through the man's chest. It ravaged the corpse for several heartbeats before it was gunned down by Leo.

As more Mutons and Andromedons began to march down the road, and threaten everyone pinned down, there was a noise. It was not something heard, so much as it was felt in Leo's bones.

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRT! BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT!

By the time Leo looked up, the pair of A-10 Thunderbolts had streaked far past the fight. On the ground, the luckiest aliens were annihilated outright by the gunfire. Those less-fortunate merely had whole limbs ripped from their bodies. A few Mutons and less-ruined Andromedon suits stumbled upfront the ground, only to be brought down by a few grenades and quick bursts of gauss fire.

Hana rallied the squad while other squads indulged in a brief celebration for this momentary victory. "There's no time to waste. The Collective is still marching down, and we're still not ready for them." Leo noted that her tone was slightly strained, but kept it under firm control. "We're going to rally others as we go. We need to hold the army off until we get the signal from General Hachette to fall back. Let's go."

BBC Broadcasting House, London, England
8/1/16 - 1801 Local Time

"For those of you just joining us, approximately nine hours ago we received word that Collective forces had seized the Hawaiian islands and were on approach to the West Coast of the United States. ADVENT has been in conflict with the Collective for more than a month now, since the invasion of Japan." Jude Davies sat at the news desk with a short stack of news reports in front of him.

To his left, his co-host Amanda Reid spoke next. "President Treduant issued a speech earlier today, saying quote 'We all knew this war would come to our land, and now that it has we will utilize every resource at our disposal to fight back against the alien scourge and avenge our fallen brothers and sisters. America will not bend to alien pressure and backed by ADVENT and XCOM, we will ultimately succeed.'"

"Prime Minister Killian Bennett broke with other EU officials today, calling the attack on the United States 'a clear and dangerous message to all of humanity that the Collective will broker no resistance.' He later said that the United Kingdom will offer what assistance it can to help alleviate the suffering of those displaced by the alien's attacks."

"We go now to Cynthia Alden in Las Vegas, where the refugees from San Francisco and Los Angeles are already pouring in now. Cynthia."

"God Almighty…" Jude muttered under his breath as the camera light went dark and the all-clear signal was given. They would have a minute or so before the camera would return back to them. In the meantime, they watched other news stations cover the unfolding drama on other screens.

"I can't say I'm not happy it's them and not us," Amanda quipped as she reorganized her stack of reports, with the same energy as if they had been reporting on a football event or a baking competition. "Let ADVENT fight the aliens over there."

Jude looked warily at his reporting partner, clearly unsure of what to make of that comment. There was something deeply unsettling in her words, but he couldn't marshal the energy to ask her about it. In the end, they lapsed into an uneasy silence, listening as Cynthia reported on the devastation and chaos brewing along the American West Coast.

Amanda continued to look unperturbed as videos continued to come; of people in total panic and terror could be seen fleeing with anything and everything under the sun that they could carry. Instead, she spent her time checking her make-up with a small compact. Jude was deeply bewildered by the behavior but had no energy to spare it in light of the newest invasion. Rather, he watched the videos and struggled to come to terms with their reality.

All too soon, they had to prepare themselves for more time in front of the camera. It was exhausting work, even from a chair, yet it was precisely for moments like this that Jude became a reporter; to deliver the truth to people and help them through the dark times. And this promised to be a very dark time in human history… perhaps the darkest.

"Thank you, Cynthia. We'll have live updates on the battle as it develops. In the meantime, a recall of Parliament has been issued, where it is expected for both Houses to discuss the conflict in the United States. The Queen is expected to make an appearance later today-"

A/N: And there we have it; the first chapter in what, I hope, will prove to be an engaging story that helps further define the world built by Xabiar. When he first put out the invitation for people to build off of his work, I knew I wanted a shot at defining the story for an interesting group like the Pantheon. It was a challenge getting here, but with this first step in telling their story, I hope it will be a story that everyone enjoys. I look forward to working with Xabiar more on the story and the world he's built.

As always, reviews are welcome and encouraged.