(A/N): Nothing much to say for this one, except that I'm extremely proud of how it turned out. I may or may not have cried while writing this one. (Spoiler: I totally did.)

Also, quick reminder that this is the second part of a double-feature, so there's a new chapter before this one! Read that one first, because unlike the past double features, this one's a direct continuation of what came before.


"Strike Teams, this is Faulke. Status check."

"Strike Five, holding down the fort around the Avenger. Not many alien buggers found their way down here, but there's still a few unwanted guests."

"Strike Six here, just about done loading up the APCs. You oughta be proud of your little sister, Big Sky - she's kicking ass up here."

"Hah, no surprise there. Delta's always been a fierce one."

"Damn right I am!"

"Strike Four, en route to Sector Zulu with Weir and Dresner in tow. No troubles so far."

"Strike Two, all wounded evacuated and transferred. Moving to escort the comms crew now."

"Good. Strike Three?"

"Little busy here!" Summer called as she wrenched her sword free of a Muton's skull. "Golf, Zulu, flash and burn! Now!"

The Russian Engineer and the American Support complied instantly, flinging their last satchel charge and stun grenade into the encroaching crowd of enemies pouring out of the tunnel maw. Both explosive packages detonated and sent a wave of shrapnel, light, and deafening noise over the Sectoids and Outsiders, knocking them off-balance enough for Knox to send them all flying back with a blast of force from his shock spade. Adam decloaked a moment later and flung a belt of live grenades into the tunnel, aiming his fusion lance and taking the head off a Shield Commander before the frags even hit the ground.

Another booming explosion, another rumble of falling stones, and silence reigned once again.

"Last tunnel secured," panted Summer as she slumped down to her knees, feeling Silas slithering up her torso and perch on her bare shoulder. "Should be the last of the aliens on Sub-Level Three, aside from the ones in the stairs."

"Good work, Sierra-Three," said Faulke over the sound of his own firefight in the hangar. "That should take some of the pressure off the other teams. For now, head to the Avenger for evacuation. As you've no doubt heard, the Omega Protocol is now active, and you don't want to be anywhere near the core when it detonates."

"Roger that, sir," she breathed. "We'll exfil now."

"Hold that thought, Sierra," came Shen's voice. "We just saw Carter."

The silver-eyed woman's stomach twisted into knots.

"Where is he, Romeo?"

"On Sub-Level Four, heading into the reactor room. We tried to stop him, but he opened fire on us and forced us to retreat. He's got a crazed look in his eyes...whatever he's up to, it looks pretty drastic."

"Dammit, Carter…" swore Weaver, her anger palpable in the radio transmissions. "Sir, I formally request that the APB be elevated to 'kill-on-sight' orders."

"Request granted."

"You can't!" Summer protested, jumping to her feet. "He's not himself! Or, rather, he is himself, and he's - ugh, you know what I mean! This isn't right!"

"I'm aware of your feelings for Carter, Sierra," said Faulke clinically. "But right now he's a danger to himself and others. The Omega Protocol was designed to trigger an explosion that wipes out the base after it's already been evacuated - if he sets that off early, none of us are getting out of here alive."

The logic was sound, as much as she hated to admit. Carter certainly wasn't making many friends with how he was acting, especially considering how him destroying Shamash was what gave away the base's location. But Carter was still carrying Asaru, the powerful alien entity that had aided them in the war thus far and the entire reason she was still alive. Abandoning either of them felt like a betrayal of her core beliefs - and a failure of the mission she'd taken on since that night in Groom Range.

"I...I don't know how I feel about Carter right now, sir, and there's a lot that I don't know about Asaru, too." She furrowed her brow as resolve flooded into her voice. "But what I do know is that we can't give up on either of them. I can't give up on them. So don't send a kill squad just yet - let me talk to them. Alone."

The silence on the other end of the radio was deafening and gut-wrenching, and it was a relief to hear Faulke finally speak again.

"...very well, Sierra. I leave it up to you. If anyone can reason with him, it's you. Good luck."

Summer breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to her squad. "Knox, take the rest of the Threes back to the Avenger. Dawson, I'm gonna need one of those 'Aura shots' Weaver told you to hold onto. Adam, give me your cloak module. And Zhedrev, I know you have a pair of handcuffs stashed in your shoe, I need those too."

As the men nodded and started pulling out the requested items, she held out her arm and let the Silacoid on her shoulder flow into her hand.

"Silas...I need you to stay with the guys."

The little alien blob cooed in protest.

"I know," she said sadly, "but I have no idea how he'd react to you being there. He's paranoid of everything and anything alien right now, so if he sees you, it might set him off. I'll handle this alone - I'll see you later, okay?"

Silas let out another warble of disappointment, but nevertheless nodded. After reaching up to "kiss" her on the cheek, the little Silacoid slithered down and scooted towards Knox, who stared at it with a raise eyebrow before shaking his head and walking over to her.

"Good luck down there, Summer," he said as he passed her an auto-injector, a cloak module, and a pair of handcuffs, "Make sure you ream Carter's ass for us. Tracking?"

Summer laughed softly as she stuck herself with the Aura shot, wincing in pain as the venom flowed into her veins.

"Tracking, sergeant. Believe me, I have plenty of choice words for him. And thanks for wishing me luck - I have a feeling I'm gonna need it."

And as she felt her Aura come alive around her for a short time, she closed her eyes and vanished in a flash of rose petals.


Weaver counted herself lucky that the Skyrangers had already taken off, because the fight in the hangar was not going well.

Despite the coordinated and combined fire of some of the Bureau's top agents, it wasn't enough to fully cut off the flow of aliens that poured in through the main surface tunnel. With every enemy contact that fell to the floor, two more bastards would just crawl over their corpse and keep up the assault. Defensive turrets were scattered across the ground in burning piles of scrap, the corpses of countless security personnel littered the battlefield, and even a fair few agents were among the dead. The survivors of the desperate battle weren't exactly unscathed either - Weaver's bare arms were covered in burns and cuts, Bradford had blood pooling down his face from a cracked nose, Van Doorn clutched his chest and cracked ribs, and even Faulke's spacesuit began to melt and warp under the heat and pressure.

"This isn't good, sir," she said through grit teeth as she sprayed the last of her medkit on a particularly nasty burn. "We lost both the hangar and the armory, along with most of the base sec team and Jensen. We can't hold out much longer."

"We don't need to," said Faulke as he fired into the crowd. "We did what we set out to do - the Skyrangers are in the air, the APCs are almost loaded, and the Avenger's set to fly as soon as everyone else is on board. Our work here is done, Weaver - take Bradford and Van Doorn to the elevator and head for the ship."

"Falling back again?" The Dutch Commando asked. "Thought we couldn't let the Outsiders get that far."

"They won't. A few charges of C4 will make sure of it. But that'll only happen after you get to safety - I will make sure of that."

Bradford nodded and began retreating, pinching his nose with a stoic expression in an attempt to stop the flow of blood. Van Doorn followed with a backpedal, firing the last cell of his plasma cannon into the encroaching horde. Weaver shot her last few bullets from her rifle as a parting gift, then dashed to the elevator and slammed the button. The doors opened with a shudder and shake, and once she saw her Commando allies make it into the lift, she spun on her heel and turned to fire with her revolver alongside Faulke.

"Agent Weaver?" asked the director with a raised eyebrow. "Do I need to repeat myself?"

"No sir, I heard you quite clearly," she growled as she nailed a Muton between the eyes. "But I'm not leaving you, sir. No matter what happens."

Faulke went quiet as he focused on laying down suppressive fire with his machine pistol, them sighed.

"I appreciate the sentiment, Angela. Truly, I do. But I gave you an order."

Before Weaver could realize what was happening, Faulke moved with surprising speed and strength, striking at her blind spot and locking her arm behind the back. She struggled against his grip with all her might and threw her weight around, but the Director kept a tight hold on her as he turned back to the elevator. With one more forceful shove he launched her into the lift, letting the momentum of the throw carry her past the doors just as they slammed shut.

Shocked and enraged, Weaver spun on the spot and pounded both her fists against the metal door as the entire elevator rumbled and sank beneath the floor. "Faulke, you son of a - !"

"I'm sorry, Angela," came the Director's voice over her radio. "Be angry at me all you wish. But that doesn't change the fact that you still have a sister out there waiting for you to find her. I don't have that luxury. Besides...someone has to stay behind to activate the Omega Protocol."

Hot tears welled up in her eyes as she felt her knuckles split open from pounding against the door uselessly. "That's a one-way trip! You stay to flip the switch, and you die too!"

"I'm well aware of that. But I wouldn't ask anyone else to make it in my stead. Everyone else is too valuable - and no matter what you may think, that includes you, too."

"You can't do this to me, Myron!" Weaver screamed, before sinking to her knees with a choked sob. "I...you can't….I can't be alone again…"

"I promise you, Angela. You won't be."

As if on cue, she felt Van Doorn walk over and lay a hand on her bare shoulder, squeezing softly and looking down at her in understanding. Bradford moved to stand behind her with a solemn silence, letting his presence alone be a source of comfort. She let a few more tears flow down her cheek as she pulled the radio off her hip, clutching it in a trembling grip as she took unsteady, shaky breaths.

"Save your tears for me - you still have a job to do. Find Origin. Save your sister. Save humanity. These are your new orders, Director Weaver. See them done."

The new director of XCOM wanted nothing more than to fully break down crying, but she knew Faulke was right. There would soon be plenty of time to grieve for the man who had been a better father than the one she grew up with, but right now she didn't have that luxury. Right now, she needed to step up and be an anchor for the Bureau as it sailed into a raging storm, just as Faulke had done before her.

Taking one more shuddering breath and wiping her face with an arm covered in burns, she clamped down on the emotions that welled up from within and rose to her feet. "I-I'll make you proud, sir."

Faulke's final message before he cut the transmission was warm and full of affection.

"You always have."


While it would have been easy enough to reform right in front of the Elerium Reactor, Summer instead chose to teleport to the small observatory, reappearing in a swirl of pale white petals. The effect of her Aura faded harshly just as she set foot in the now-empty room, and the exhaustion hit her like a ton of bricks falling from the sky. It shocked her how quickly her usual dosage of adrenaline-triggering drugs was already displaying diminishing returns, but she couldn't afford to think about that. For now, all she could do was trigger the cloak module and approach the window, turning invisible to the naked eye as she stared into the main room illuminated in blood-red light.

Her worst fears were confirmed when she saw a familiar figure standing in front of the massive generator, hunched over in such a way that their hat was a prominent part of their shadowy silhouette.

Carter...she mentally thought, he's already here.

Steeling herself for what was about to happen, she drew her pistol and moved to the door separating the observatory and the main room. Usually there was a pair of doors and a decontamination procedure that would run in between them, like all secured Bureau areas, but all that awaited her now were two empty frames with mangled steel and shattered glass lining one side. Perhaps it was for the best that Carter trashed the decontamination doors on the way in - now she was far less likely to spook the man as she approached, an invisible specter practically gliding down the concrete stairs into the reactor chamber.

Summer held her breath as she crept closer to Carter, the cloak module on her hip growing warmer with each passing second. With the element of surprise on her side, she could easily subdue the madman physically, and her brain was already formulating seven different ways to knock him out. But she knew that doing that would only delay the inevitable, not to mention it would only add fuel to Carter's fire - and give Asaru a reason to stop helping them, especially if he brought her here for his protection.

No. She had to handle this diplomatically.

Ten feet away from the rogue agent, she dropped the stealth field and raised her sidearm. The click of the safety being disengaged echoed in the spacious reactor room, nearly drowned out by the constant humming of energized Elerium cycling within its container.

"Agent Carter? Step away from the reactor."

The man in the bloodstained hat gave a sort of amused chuckle as he rose to his feet, turning towards Summer and staring hard at her and the loaded pistol she pointed at him. He looked down at her weapon, then up at her, and scowled.

"If you came down here to kill me, you should've brought something a little heavier than a Colt," he grumbled. "I'm a freak of nature, remember? I can heal whatever you do to me."

Summer shifted her grip a little, narrowing her silver eyes. "I have no intention of killing you, Will. Even if I could, I wouldn't. But I don't have to end you to stop you. I can and I will hurt you, if that's what it takes to bring you back to your senses. Neither of us want that...so just stand down now, and you walk out of here with your dignity intact, along with both your knee -"

"Dignity? Dignity?!" Carter suddenly yelled as he furrowed his brow. "I've had an alien puppeteer yanking my strings for the last seven months, and you think I give a shit about dignity?! What, are you gonna go into another long-winded speech and try to appeal to my 'good nature' or some shit like that? Because if that's your plan, you're wasting your breath and your time. And if you stay here, you won't have much of either."

"I'm giving you a choice here, Will." Every bit of her focus was on maintaining her silvery glare. "Not Asaru, you. So make the right call. Come with me willingly, before I use something other than words to convince you. I may not be able to kill you...but I can do things that'll make you wish I could."

Another humorless snort. Carter looked back at the Elerium generator. "You're right about one thing. You can't kill me. You can't kill it. But if this thing goes off with me standing dead center? Yeah...yeah, I reckon that'll do just fine."

"But we haven't finished evacuating everyone yet!" Summer protested. "You blow that reactor now, and everything we've worked for, everything we've fought for, everything we've done...it'll be for nothing! You can't possibly be that short-sighted and selfish!"

"That doesn't sound like my problem," growled Carter. "And soon enough, it won't be your problem either. Or anyone's, really."

The gun trembled in her hands as Summer realized just how far her friend had fallen. "Why are you doing this, Will? What happened to you? I...I thought I knew who you were. I would have followed you anywhere. Every fight we've lived through, every battle we've won...I thought we were friends."

Carter scoffed, sending a jab of pain through Summer's heart and drawing forth tears from her eyes.

"I...I loved you," she whispered.

"Did you really?" Carter turned back again, furrowing his brow. "Did you really love me? Or did you love whatever you thought that fucking freak in my head was turning me into? The fact is, nothing happened to change me. This, right here? This is the William Carter I've always been. The same William Carter I've been ever since my wife and son died in that goddamn fire. The same William Carter that drank and pissed his life away, going from a national hero to some asshole with a nice desk job. Only for the last few months, I've had some kind of alien bullshit in my head, trying to kill that part of me - the only part that's left - to advance whatever the fuck it wanted. And I've had enough."

Summer's eyes softened. "Carter - "

"I am done being other people's puppets!" he snapped. "That's all I've ever done all my life. The Pacific Theater, the CIA, the Bureau, and now this...I want out! And I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen - if I have to blow the whole damn base to Kingdom Come, then so be it!"

Summer bit her lower lip, unsure what else to say. She was pondering her next argument to make when Carter suddenly...stopped after his outburst. He just stood there, eyes staring into nothing, as a blue glow formed over his arms and shoulders.

And he wasn't the only thing that stopped. The entire world around her seemed to slow to a crawl.

Another voice came into her mind. Soft, gentle, innocent.

Scared.

Summer.

She blinked, then thought of a response in her mind without saying it out loud. In stark contrast to her encounter with Shamash, she remained perfectly still and at peace. She had a pretty good idea of what - or who - was reaching out to her.

Asaru?

Relief and warmth flooded into the voice. Yes. You can hear me, and I can hear you. It is...nice to speak with you, after so long.

Summer had to smile. Even in such a dire situation, her new - or maybe old? - friend was nothing if not exceedingly polite.

It's nice to finally hear you too, Asaru. What's going on with Will?

Fear was evident in the nascent Ethereal's voice as he "spoke."

The one known as Carter, he...he is trying to hurt me. He is trying to fight me. I am trying to guide him away from the reactor, but he will not listen. He only yells at me, and all I can do is delay his intentions. He is going to destroy us both. I do not want that. I do not want him to kill me, and I do not want him to destroy himself. And I do not want him to destroy everyone and everything or you or -

The rest of the young Ethereal's thoughts were lost in a panicked spiral, one that Summer knew she had to break.

Asaru, she thought gently, with the practiced ease of a mother consoling a child. It's okay. It's gonna be okay. I'm right here. And I'm not leaving you or Carter behind.

That seemed to give her guest pause, but the uncertainty was still there in the next message.

I am afraid.

Summer pooled warm feelings into her next thought, smiling softly as she did so.

It's okay, Asaru. I'm scared, too. But courage comes by acting through the fear, by finding a solution to stop what's scaring you. I won't let Will set off those bombs, and I won't let you be destroyed. I promise, I'll be here until the end.

She could feel the relief in the reply, like a gentle rain washing over a parched field of grass.

Thank you, Summer.

Anytime. With a brief mental smile, the gears in her brain started turning. Is there anything that you can do on your end?

The relief turned to disappointment.

There is little I can still do with Carter. I can slow him enough that we may speak like this in the mindscape, but I cannot stop him. He will not use the powers I grant him, unless it serves his own goals. He will not listen to my cries. He is unable to look beyond his grief, beyond his pain. And that pain will drive him to destroy us both.

Summer looked at Carter, who was still frozen with a furious scowl on his face. A pang of guilt shot through her heart at the thought of how hard Asaru was fighting to protect Carter, and how hard he was fighting to spite the Ethereal. Her mind raced furiously as she searched for a solution, seconds dragging into minutes.

Okay, worst case scenario here, she thought after a moment of silent planning, what if you left him? Would you be able to fly fast enough to escape the blast radius? Maybe we can meet up where the APCs are heading, and...

Asaru said nothing. Summer's heart sank.

you can't leave him, can you?

I cannot, replied Asaru meekly, I am...an infant. Without my Incubator, I am formless. I am nothing but energy. I require a host to inhabit…otherwise I will fade.

Of course it wouldn't be that easy. Shamash did tell her that Ethereals needed something to latch onto in order to stay in their current reality. But that did trigger a new thought in Summer's mind as her brow furrowed, then raised.

...can you switch from one host to another? You made the jump from a damaged Incubator to Carter that night at Groom Range, right? Could you do that again?

Possibly? Asaru seemed puzzled. Who would willingly bond with one such as myself, though? I am...it is as he said, a puppeteer. A parasite. A monster. If that is what he sees me as, surely others will see me the same way.

Summer wanted to say that Asaru was wrong, that he was letting Carter's opinion of him destroy his own self-image, then paused. The young Ethereal wasn't wrong - from what Shamash said, every other Ethereal wasn't as nice or as good-hearted as the one in front of her. They were a race that thrived on exerting their will over others, and Asaru's kindness didn't change the more horrifying implications of the process.

And yet...what other choice did she have?

The silver-eyed Huntress took a deep breath to steel herself, and looked up at the glowing blue figure that clung to Carter with ephemeral tendrils.

maybe others will see you that way, but not me. Let me be your new host, Asaru - let me protect you, as you have protected me.

Silence.

Summer's hands gripped tightly to the gun as she waited, counting what she thought were seconds in her mind. She could feel Asaru's apprehension and fear flooding into her mind, as the Ethereal seemed to grapple with the quandary. Or maybe he was talking to Carter about the offer? Either way, a long silence passed between the three people in front of the reactor as the klaxons and alarms blared soundlessly in the background.

It was almost a relief to feel the voice in her mind again, laced with uncertainty as it was.

You are...certain of this? Despite the risk? Despite the danger?

This was the least sure she had ever been about anything, but Summer wasn't about to let that stop her now.

You saved my life by bringing me into this world, Asaru, she thought confidently. I want to return the favor.

Relief once again flooded into the mental link, followed by apprehension and anticipation.

If you consent to being my new host...then I shall transfer myself to you. I must warn you though, that when I first transferred, I did so while William Carter was unconscious, so his mind was more...receptive to my power. You and he are both awake now, and I have spent many months bonded to him...so this may be a painful process for all of us, and I must drop my control over him to prepare myself. Are you ready, Summer?

Summer watched as Carter's hand twitched closer to the reactor. The slowed time the mindscape afforded them was running out.

I am. Do it now, Asaru.

Very well. This will take but a moment…

All at once time returned to its normal pace, and the blaring alarms and humming machinery sounded once again. Carter's shoulders slumped, he took a deep breath, and once he got his bearings, he turned to glare daggers at Summer.

"...so you're turning yourself over to that freak?" Carter growled in disappointment. "Is that the only reason you came down here? To save it?"

A blue four-armed figure formed above Carter's head, and Summer stowed her gun with a sigh.

"No. I came here to save you both. And his name is Asaru."

There was a single bright flash of light that filled the entire reactor room, before the darkness overtook them both.


"Tango-Two reporting that my team and the comms operators have safely made it to the Avenger. Strikes Three, Four, and Five are all aboard, too - just waiting on Strike One and Sierra-Three now."

"APCs are loaded and the engines are hot! Let's get these convoys moving! All gunners, switch to DEAF rounds and get ready to fire on any UFOs that tail our asses!"

"Roger that, Delta-Six! You heard the lady, boys - eyes on the sky!"

"Skyrangers are under fire! We're getting hounded by UFOs!"

Faulke ducked his head behind an office corner to avoid the burst of plasma, then leaned out to core the offending Outsider's head with a well-aimed burst from his pistol. Letting the now-empty magazine clatter to the ground, he clicked the button on his spacesuit collar and spoke clearly.

"Skyrangers, wait for a window in the flak shelling, then head south to Site X in loose formation. Motors, I want twenty-yard spacing between each Driver - stay in groups of two or more, but don't bunch up too much. With any luck, you'll have a chance to reconvene after the Omega Protocol is lifted."

"Understood, sir!"

"You got it, sugar!"

Reloading with one hand, Faulke once more toggled his radio to reach out on a private frequency.

"Shen, any word from Summer?"

"Considering we haven't gone up in a nuclear explosion yet, I'd say she was successful in stopping Carter," replied the Engineer calmly. "But there's been no sign of either of them yet, and Summer's not answering her radio."

"Have Barnes keep the Avenger's engines running hot, and tell Weir to spool up the phase plotter. Be ready to take off as soon as one or both of them show up, along with what's left of Strike One. I'll buy you as much time as I can."

Shen understood the implication of his words immediately, and to the young man's credit, he did an admirable job of keeping the sobs from choking into his voice.

"...understood, sir. It's been an honor."

"Likewise," said Faulke as he ducked under cover yet again. "And when Summer gets back, you tell her she's the best damn Huntress I ever met. We owe her a lot...more than we can ever fully repay her."

"I just hope you're right about her making it back here…"

"So am I, Raymond. So am I."


The next time Summer dared to open her eyes, everything hurt.

The blaring klaxons became little more than the world's loudest alarm clock, thundering in her ears while her mind attempted to tune it out. Her head pounded like there were tiny hammers trying to break her skull, and every breath felt laced with pins and needles that stabbed at her chest. Even the act of rolling onto her back and blinking hit her like a migraine taking root, threatening to claw out every nerve ending from forehead to foot.

She groaned, raising a hand to shield her sensitive eyes from the flashing lights. "...Asaru?" she croaked quietly.

I am here.

The voice in her mind sounded similar to the one she spoke with moments earlier, but this time it felt different. Louder. Clearer.

Stronger.

"Did…" Summer coughed up dried flecks of blood, then gasped. "...did it work?"

Yes. If Asaru could smile, he no doubt would be doing do. The transfer was successful. I am now within you, Summer Rose.

The silver-eyed Huntress chuckled in relief, letting herself lay back against the cold stone floor for a moment longer. She could feel Asaru's relief as well, thankful that the alien guest no longer had to fight to restrain a madman. A thought crossed her mind as she breathed and panted heavily, and though she knew she could think her words to Asaru like she was doing earlier, talking in person felt better. More natural.

It also helped remind her that she was still alive.

"So...does this mean I can use all the same powers that Carter had?" she breathed. "Like, healing and throwing stuff around?"

Asaru was quiet for a moment, and a pit grew in her stomach at the silence before being banished by his next words.

An astute observation, Summer Rose, and a correct one. My powers are an essential part of me, so in theory any host I take can wield these same abilities. Cellular regeneration, telekinesis, control over lesser minds, and "battle focus" are all yours to use as you see fit...and in your case, I believe I can do something I could not with William Carter. Something...new. Please try to remain calm.

Summer was about to ask for clarification when a fresh wave of pain surged across her entire body, lighting every nerve on fire and making her whimper through grit teeth. The sensation ended almost as soon as it began, however, and a warm feeling took its place. She felt enveloped in comfort like she was sliding into a hot bath on a cold night, and upon looking down at herself, a milky-white field of light flowed around her hands.

No way.

"My...Aura?" She blinked in surprise, then giggled painfully in delight. "You...you unlocked my Aura?!"

I did. Asaru sounded quite pleased with himself. It should now be able to sustain itself without the need for bodily harm or self-poisoning. I can explain more later, but for now I believe it would be wise to use it to return to the others. They are no doubt waiting for you.

Summer nodded and rolled back into a sitting position, closing her eyes to begin activating her Semblance…

Then she opened them again and looked at the sprawled out form of William Carter, who was laying in front of the reactor with a pained expression on his face and dried blood dribbling down his chin.

"Will…" she said softly. To Asaru, she asked, "Is he...alive?"

For now, yes, replied Asaru, though there was a sour edge to his voice now. He is simply unconscious. I do not know how long until he awakens, though. And he will not be in a pleasant mood when he does.

"I know," said Summer resolutely, already crawling to her friend. "But at least he'll have a chance to wake up, because I am not leaving him behind."

Asaru seemed puzzled. Even after what he has done?

"Especially after what he did," clarified Summer. "I'm not excusing it - he made mistakes that cost us lives and our base, and mark my words he will answer for them. But he's just as scared and confused as the rest of us, and leaving him here to die makes us no better than Origin or the Outsiders. He deserves a chance to learn, to grow, and to be better. It's what Julia and Richard would have wanted for him. It's what I want for him."

He will not be grateful, warned the Ethereal.

"Maybe not." She laced her fingers with his, feeling the rough leather glide over her own smooth skin. "But he'll be alive. And that's all that matters to me."

With her final words hanging in the air, she extended her Aura to her first friend on Earth, pictured the Avenger's main deck in her mind's eye, and they both disappeared in swirls of rose petals.


"Faulke, it's Weaver. Strike One's reached the Avenger alongside all other surviving personnel, including Summer and Carter. Seems that the Mosaic look-alike she was talking about jumped ship, and is piggybacking off of her now. I don't understand all the details...but I guess as long as they're both alive, we can figure the rest out later."

Faulke did his best to muffle a hiss of pain as he crossed the threshold into his office, leaving a trail of blood on the carpet as he dragged his limp foot behind him. Ordinarily, he'd have been more than a little annoyed at the stains it would leave, but he had more pressing matters at the moment. Like getting to his desk before he passed out from the blood loss.

"Very good, Weaver," he replied, as if he wasn't missing half the flesh on his left ankle. "Any other survivors reporting in to say they're on their way?"

The new acting Director's voice wavered ever so slightly. "No, sir. It looks like this is everyone."

"Then you have clearance to take off," he ordered as he nearly collapsed over the top of his desk. "Keep the Avenger mobile and stay off the grid. Don't make visual contact with any of the other convoys until you know for sure that you aren't being tailed or tracked. After that...you finish the fight however you can."

Another choked sob barely managed to suppress itself. "Understood, sir. Any other orders?"

Faulke took a moment to hobble around his desk and slump down in his familiar chair, the one that had served him admirably ever since the war began. With the hand that had the Venn Brace mounted, he smashed open the wooden panel on his desk that served as a false drawer; with the other, he drew a cigarette from the half-empty box laying facedown.

"One more, actually. Patch me through to the Avenger's main channel, and then transmit across all encrypted channels. I have one last speech for everyone."

Weaver let out a choked chuckle. "You always did like your damn speeches, Myron. The floor is yours now."

Sitting up straight to compose his thoughts, Faulke pulled his hand out of the pile of wooden shards and splinters, grabbing the lighter from another drawer and setting one end of the cigarette aflame. He brought it to his lips, breathed deep, and let out a smoky sigh.

"This is Director Myron Faulke, self-appointed chief and central officer for the Bureau of Strategic Operations and Command, and I am sending this message to any and all XCOM personnel remaining in the field. XCOM HQ has fallen. I repeat, XCOM HQ has fallen."

He paused for dramatic effect, giving time for the news to sink into the minds of the people listening. The bitter, acidic smoke from the cigarette helped dull the pain creeping up his leg, and helped steel himself for the task he was about to do.

"The enemy has been angered. Much like Hitler when his men trekked through the Russian winter, or Yamamoto when his planes rained fire and death on Pearl Harbor, we have awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve. With the loss and subsequent destruction of Mosaic, Origin and the Outsiders are no longer interested in subjugating and conquering Earth - I fear now that they have something else in mind, something much worse than anything before. They will give us no quarter, grant us no reprieve, and will not rest until all we have built is torn down and purged in fire. It now falls to you to ensure this does not happen, that the world continues to spin when all is said and done. Do whatever it takes to make that happen."

Faulke pushed his hand back into the hidden compartment of his desk, using his rapidly-fading sense of touch to feel around inside the narrow sleeve for the all-important switch. The final step of the Omega Protocol was difficult to find on purpose - after all, it wasn't supposed to be something he'd need to look at everyday. But as more blood pooled out of the missing chunks of his leg, it felt harder and harder to keep searching for the elusive trigger. Another puff of a cigarette snapped him back into focus, delaying the darkness tinting the edges of his vision for just a moment longer.

"To those stationed in cities or out on dispatch operations, I have activated the Omega Protocol. Do not approach the Bureau's primary base of operations; consider all XCOM assets at this location to be dead or destroyed. Do not attempt a recovery or rescue. You will only find rubble and ruin."

There. A big handle deep inside the desk, large enough for him to wrap his entire hand around even with the spacesuit glove adding considerable bulk. It was a remarkably simple design, with just a single locking button on the top that required just the push of a button to disengage. Idiot-proof. No timer or complex radio signals needed, just press the top to unlock, pull the lever back to complete the circuit, and every ounce of plastic explosive connected by the wires would detonate in perfect sequence. For obvious reasons, he'd never had to test the entire system, and he'd hoped he never needed to. But Faulke was reasonably sure that it would work.

It would be extremely embarrassing if it didn't, especially since he was pouring his heart and soul into the speech.

"For those of you who are evacuating, you may notice that I am not among you. Rest assured, that is intentional. The Omega Protocol requires one person to stay behind and manually trigger the detonation, and I could not ask any of you to bear that weight. You all represent the finest of our species - its strongest soldiers, its greatest minds, its bravest and most noble souls. You are everything that the Bureau fought to protect, everything good and right with humanity that the Outsiders would eradicate rather than embrace. You may stumble, and you may fall, but you will rise again and endure. Just like the ones that came before you, and the ones that remain when you yourself must leave. It has been an honor, being your director; whatever you may think of me, know that I am proud of each and every one of you."

The darkness at the edge of his vision began to grow again, and not even the cigarette was helping him stay conscious now. The pool of blood on the floor was growing ever larger, and he knew he was running out of time. Earth was running out of time. Whatever Origin had planned, it would fall to the people out there to fix it. His work was almost done. All he had to do was throw a switch.

"The war may have changed today, but my orders to you have not. My final command to you is the same as the first one I issued. Survive. Adapt. Win."

The Director took one final draft of his cigarette as his hand grasped the lever, fingers curling around the handle and thumb resting against the button that would otherwise lock it into place. One pull of that lever, and the Bureau of Strategic Operations and Command would be erased from the world forever.

"Good luck, XCOM."

Click. Ka-chunk. BOOM.

Myron Faulke felt himself drifting into the welcome arms of darkness moments before fire and stone came to burn and bury him.

After all he'd done to protect the world, a restful death was the least he deserved.