ADVENT: Dossier
Chief of Lancer Operations Helion Weekes
"A man with a background classified higher than the Director of the CIA means this man isn't who he seems."
- ADVENT Intelligence Director Elizabeth Falka
To: Elizabeth Falka
Subject: Lancer Chief Candidate Helion Weekes
Elizabeth,
I think I've narrowed down the final candidates for the position. The Commander recommended me Weekes to me since he's actually somewhat familiar with his record. Going only by the public record, he's competent, and has mostly had a quiet career. Which tells me that this man is very well organized and has at least some skill in subtlety, because I can guarantee that the Commander of the USSOCOM is not doing anything "quiet".
I asked Treduant to give me government records on him, the ones not available to the public. His track record is impressive to say the least. He participated quite a bit in the War on Terror, which is how I presume the Commander knew about him. No botched missions, near 100% success rate. Simply put, the man is clearly competent enough to lead the Lancer Corps.
What raises questions is that his personal files are…strangely short. He doesn't have friends, no relationships with family, divorced wife, and no children. Everyone seems to respect him to a degree, but he appears to be just as much of an enigma to his staff and subordinates as he is to us. I inquired for more details, but I was told they don't know where they'd be, or they didn't exist.
If there's something we need to know about him, I want you to find it.
- Saudia
000
To: Saudia Vyandar
Re: Subject: Lancer Chief Candidate Helion Weekes
Weekes, I recognize the name. Let me check.
Ah, right. USSOCOM. A complete and utter pain. Unknowingly hit some of our shell companies several times. Very effective, very smart. I see how he'd make your list. But now that you mention it, I don't know much about him aside from his track record. Interesting. No psyche report…or really anything before he divorced his wife. Or after, for that matter.
Hm, you're right. No one is like this without something to hide.
I'll see what I can do.
- Elizabeth
000
To: Saudia Vyandar
Re: Subject: Lancer Chief Candidate Helion Weekes
Took a while, but I think I figured out the enigma.
The short version is that Weekes isn't exactly the uncaring stoic person he portrays to the outside world. He had, and apparently still does, have a habit of let's say…getting out and about. I've managed to dig up at least seven reports in the past five years detailed some kind of citation against him for 'failure to inform' or some kind of paper that pretty much says that the government wants him to let them know if he's going to out clubbing.
Apparently, Weekes doesn't like that. In all honesty, the government probably wouldn't care that much, since he is apparently discreet about it, aside from the fact that Weekes has been accused of sexual harassment not once, not twice, but a grand total of four times. This isn't including the reason he divorced his wife, which turned out to be because she had filed assault charges against him.
That would explain why there is almost nothing easily found on his personal life, but I'm assuming you're coming to the same conclusion I am, which is that the reason this was so quiet was because he's just too valuable to lose. That's probably the driving factor, but I don't know. What's curious is that none of the charges for anything were ever proven one way or another as far as I could tell. He may be innocent, he might not. But with how little there is in general, I doubt I can find a sufficient answer without interrogating Weekes himself.
So keep that in mind if you put him in charge.
- Elizabeth
000
To: Elizabeth Falka
Re: Re: Subject: Lancer Chief Candidate Helion Weekes
Forward what you found to the Chronicler. He says he wants to look into this himself for whatever that's worth.
Dropped harassment and assault charges are not disqualifying enough, but I am now wondering about his stability. What you learned about him stands at odds with his record, which I find very odd. I'd expect someone with that kind of lifestyle to be more…open. Clearly not the case. I think the only solution at this point is for me to speak to him and discuss this.
If I like his answers and believe him, then as far as I can see, he'll be perfect for the job.
If not, I'll dismiss him. Find me some more candidates in the meantime. I've eliminated the ones before him.
- Saudia
000
To: Saudia Vyandar
Re: Subject: Lancer Chief Candidate Helion Weekes
Done and done. Hope you figure this out soon. The Commander wants all of this set up in the next two weeks. We can't waste too much time on one man.
- Elizabeth
Analysis Record: Helion Weekes
Current Role: Chief of Lancer Operations
Current Interference Level: High
Threat Level: High
Usage Level: Low
Brief Assessment: Upon first glance, inquiry into this individual does not seem to reveal anything too unexpected, except when you compare him to individuals in similar positions and even within Human special forces organizations. In terms of accomplishment, this man rivals the Commander in terms of influence and danger.
From what information we have been able to gather, there is little that is remarkable about his early life, aside that he grew up in a highly patriotic and conservative family, and enlisted in the military as soon as he was old enough. He then quickly attempted to join the United States Navy SEALs and to my surprise, failed several times before meeting the qualifications.
However, his persistence was something that proved to be a major asset in his career. Over the course of several decades, Weekes became one of the top SEAL operatives, completing missions all over the world, most of which we have not been able to determine. The areas of operation we know were in the Middle East, South America, Israel and China.
His exact specialization appears to be little more than a leader and soldier. As far as we know, he has very little computational, electrical or engineering expertise, instead delegating those tasks to subordinates. However, he was without a doubt absolutely lethal in his prime, and from intercepted documents from Chinese, Israeli, Canadian and Russian governments, he has not once been identified by name, but has potentially been reported on several times.
His last major combat operation was during the War on Terror, and he specifically operated in Syria primarily, and was instrumental in the United Nation's victory during the Battle of Syria, in conjunction with Peter Van Doorn and the Commander's hidden hand. To the best of our knowledge, he never interacted personally with the Commander during this time, and we suspect that he does not know that the Commander is alive, much less in charge of XCOM.
After the War on Terror and the Commander's supposed execution, Weekes was promoted to Commander of the USSOCOM (United States Special Operations COMmand), and that has apparently resulted in the shifting of certain priorities of the American special forces. Operations seem to have apparently focused in the Middle East (Expected, though this appears to include Israel as well), China and Russia.
From the information that can be gathered, it appeared Weekes was indeed specifically targeting other world superpowers, though if there was a motive beyond increasing American influence, I have not been able to determine it. And to what extent he was successful remains unknown, although it highlights that he has prioritized threats, upon which we are likely now at the top.
This man is likely just as smart and dangerous as the Commander, and Chancellor Saudia was extremely intelligent to put him in charge of this newly developed Lancer Corps. We will need to watch him and the Corps carefully. It might require the deployment of a Special Operator to ensure he does not become a larger threat.
- Zar'Chon'ravarian'vitiary
XCOM Profile 991
Authorization Level: Internal Council
Subject: Helion Weekes, Chief of Lancer Operations
Threat Level: Low
Assessment Author: Haley Yates, XCOM Psychologist
Approved by: The Commander of XCOM
SECTION 1: Physical Characteristics
Hair color: None (Bald)
Eye color: Gray
Skin color: Black
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 210 lbs.
Age: 47
Scars or markings: None
Physical Condition: Comparable to a baseline US Marine, below SEAL standard
Nation of Birth: United States of America
SECTION 2: Assessment
Weekes is a far more interesting person of interest than he looks. His history and record show not much more than a standard, exemplary career, much like yourself, Commander. However it is very clear after further investigation and an interview I conducted with him that he is not the person he enjoys portraying himself as.
His command style is very much driven on threat potential. He won't ignore threats, per-se, but he will push smaller ones to the side until he deals with ones he deems more important. However, he deals with the ones he does identify as threats with what I would personally call 'overkill', and I mean that in the figurative and literal sense.
For what it's worth, he does appear to hold 'the Commander' in fairly high regard. He didn't quite like you, at least that's what I interpreted from him, but he didn't think you were doing what you did for the wrong reasons. In fact if you were wondering why exactly it took the UN so long to actually hunt you down, it was because for a while Weekes was in charge of capturing you. As you probably guessed, he didn't try his best (Apparently got distracted smashing some organized crime ring in Mexico), so he was taken off the hunt after a mere six months.
In his interactions with people, he is generally respectful, though this appears to be only because he considers himself among people equal to, or greater than, himself. He without doubt holds himself above most people, and can be surprisingly callous when discussing matters which involve the potential deaths of hundreds of soldiers. He even sees his Lancers in a very mechanical and clinical light, but I will go into detail on that shortly.
SECTION 3: Psychological Profile
Weekes is…not as stable as I was expecting. He is almost a completely different person when off-duty. His extracurricular activities were chastised by the government, but ultimately nothing was done because Weekes was just too good at his job. The catalyst I believe for this was a domestic dispute with his wife who ultimately divorced him.
I was unfortunately not able to gather specific details, and Weekes absolutely did not want to discuss that with me. His wife did accuse him of physical assault, but that was settled, so I cannot prove its factual basis one way or another. And that admittedly makes me uncomfortable, since based on what I have observed, Weekes very much possesses that capability and could do it without remorse.
Likewise, he's been accused several times of sexual harassment, the woman I have not been able to identify, but he was smart enough to not try and do that to a subordinate, but that sadly doesn't narrow anything down since I couldn't find if these were women in the military or civilians. All the cases were eventually dropped, but again I cannot prove anything one way or another, and quite frankly, the chances that all of them were false seems very unlikely. It is well-established that he is an asset to the United States, and it makes sense they would do what they could to protect their asset.
In short, he has a messy and contradictory personal life. His professional demeanor is almost completely different. He is focused, polite, well-spoken and highly detailed. He speaks calmly and rationally and his plans and tactics reflect this. He is very good at what he does, no one can dispute that. How he can be so different off-duty is something I can't answer without a thorough psychiatric evaluation, and something tells me that isn't going to happen. But you should be aware of this, and I would almost recommend he undergo a psionic evaluation to ensure he is stable for the war.
You wouldn't necessarily need his permission, and while I'd generally recommend against that, I do not think Weekes is someone who overly respects issues of the mind, and has the illusion that he can handle them all by himself. But this is one option available, Commander, and this is not a recommendation from myself, only a notice.
As I mentioned earlier, Weekes has a potential demoralizing and dangerous outlook on soldiers below him, and the world in general. He does not think in terms of 'people' and 'casualties' but in 'units' and 'cost'. I am aware you will say that your own views are similar, but they are not, Commander. You might knowingly order soldiers into battle, but you will only do it if there isn't a choice, and it won't be done lightly. You see your soldiers as people, even if you know that many will die. Some soldiers are more valuable, but that doesn't mean you just ignore the ones below them.
Weekes does not believe that at all. He does not take the Human cost into consideration. He will send a hundred soldiers to their deaths, and will consider it a success if the objective is accomplished. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that he has no known friends, or anyone remotely close to him. His excuse for that is that it lets him remain 'detached', but both of us know you do not have to take it to that extreme and can still make hard decisions.
The only reason his casualty rate is not that high is because, in his own way, he does care about his 'assets' being as protected and deadly as possible. He doesn't throw them away for nothing, but he sheds no tears if they were to all perish, because he knows that they would be replaced within days.
He is not a threat to us, Commander, not yet. But he is almost as remorseless as Stein, and that should not be forgotten.