ADVENT: History
The Third Battle of the United States of America
"A victory; perhaps a turning point."
- The Commander
After-Action Report
Operation: Broken Sword
Personnel
Panther 1 (Squad Overseer): Magus Telekine Matthew Hawkins
Status: Active
Kills: 67
Panther 2: Offensive Templar Chan Jin-Taek
Status: Wounded (Estimated 3 Days)
Kills: 28
Panther 3: Scout Shun Anwei
Status: Active
Kills: 16
Panther 4: Medic Jafari Tulun
Status: Active
Kills: 10
Panther 5: Assault Kathryn Henderson
Status: Active
Kills: 22
Panther 6: Infantry Alan Moss
Status: Active
Kills: 31
Panther 7: Rocketeer Puran Metharom
Status: Active
Kills: 23
Panther 8: Infantry Kita Emiya
Status: Deceased (Sectoid Vanguard)
Kills: 27
Panther A1 (Seraphim): Archangel Sierra Morrow
Status: Active
Kills: 77
Panther A2: Archangel Anna Pavlova
Status: Active
Kills: 56
Panther A3: Archangel Psion Ted Holden
Status: Active
Kills: 60
Panther M1: MEC Pilot Zalim Shree (MARAUDER-Class Suit Used)
Status: Online
Kills: 52
Coyote 0 (Deployment Commander): The Commander of XCOM
Status: Active
Kills: 33
Coyote 1 (Squad Overseer): Infantry Anius Creed
Status: Active
Kills: 25
Coyote 2: Defensive Templar Ellinor Aagard
Status: Active
Kills: 32
Coyote 3: Telekine Templar Pall Johansson
Status: Active
Kills: 27
Coyote 4: Engineer Nuan Kun
Status: Active
Kills: 18
Coyote 5: Telekine Psion Eddison Fisher
Status: Active
Kills: 49
Coyote 6: Medic Cole Pratt
Status: Active
Kills: 8
Coyote 7: Assault Ricardo Jacob
Status: Active
Kills: 18
Coyote 8: Medic Rebecca Carr
Status: Active
Kills: 6
Coyote A1 (Seraphim): Archangel Templar Nu Jung-Hwan
Status: Active
Kills: 68
Coyote A2: Archangel Catherine Gosslin
Status: Active
Kills: 44
Coyote A3: Archangel Templar Liliyane Stark
Status: Active
Kills: 53
Coyote M1: MEC Pilot Gloria Page (BALLISTA-Class Suit Used)
Status: Online
Kills: 47
Predator 1 (Squad Overseer): Telepath Leviathan Patricia Trask
Status: Active
Kills: Unknown (Estimated 1000+)
Predator 2: Medic Blake Harkin
Status: Wounded (Estimated 1 Day)
Kills: 15
Predator 3: Telepath Magus Fatima Tariq
Status: Active
Kills: 0 (Primarily continued via telepathic assistance)
Predator 4: Rocketeer Fakhr al Din
Status: Wounded (Estimated 4 Days)
Kills: 33
Predator 5: Infantry Oliver Ilari
Status: Active
Kills: 31
Predator 6: Offensive Magus Mona Erkisson
Status: Active
Kills: 47
Predator 7: Sniper Cassandra Rivera
Status: Active
Kills: 45
Predator 8: Gunner Lin Zexian
Status: Wounded (Estimated 2 Days)
Kills: 28
Predator A1 (Seraphim): Archangel Leviathan Viktoria Hammarström
Status: Active
Kills: 300+
Predator A2: Archangel Sebastian Zorita
Status: Active
Kills: 45
Predator A3: Archangel Rafal Rothenstein
Status: Active
Kills: 48
Predator A4 (Seraphim): Archangel Jim Cuban
Status: Active
Kills: 99
Predator A5: Archangel Templar Maria Espina
Status: Active
Kills: 76
Predator A6: Archangel Versha Marwah
Status: Active
Kills: 54
Predator M1: MEC Pilot No Sung-Jin (GOLIATH-Class Suit Used)
Status: Active
Kills: 104
Sabre 1 (Squad Overseer): Defensive Templar Iosif Bronis
Status: Active
Kills: 15
Sabre 2: Templar Carmelita Alba
Status: Wounded (Estimated 4 Days)
Kills: 0
Sabre 3: Defensive Magus Said Tariq
Status: Active
Kills: 0
Sabre 4: Telekine Templar Ryo Ha-Sun
Status: Deceased
Kills: 0
Sabre 5: Sniper Nira Schwab
Status: Active
Kills: 16
Sabre 6: Sniper Vicente Espiga
Status: Active
Kills: 22
Sabre 7: Telekine Templar Saar Aron
Status: Deceased
Kills: 0
Sabre 8: Defensive Templar Hugo Nilsen
Status: Wounded (Estimated 5 Days)
Kills: 0
Sabre M1: MEC Pilot Sung Cho (SHINOBI-Class Suit Used)
Status: Severely Damaged (Estimated Recovery Time 10 Days)
Kills: 0
Pilot 1: Jason Olgard – Call sign: "Big Sky"
Pilot 2: Tzadok Gretz – Call sign: "Morning Sky"
Pilot 3: Chi Yun-Ju – Call sign: "Shattered Sky"
Pilot 4: Riley Ignis – Call sign: "Burning Sky"
Pilot 5: Natalie Johannsen – Call sign: "Roaring Sky"
Artifacts Recovered:
Note: Numbers are subject to change as more corpses, artifacts and technology is recovered and negotiated over.
- 1500+x Assorted Alien Corpses (Exact counts to be determined)
- 100+x Alien Weapon Stockpiles (Intact)
- 100+x Alien Tech Components (Intact)
- 40x MELD Canisters
- 1500+x Weapon Fragments (Numbers may change)
- 4000+x Alien Alloys (Numbers may change)
ADVENT Military After-Action Report 0900
Operation: Humanum Vindictae
Author: Commander Laura Christiaens
Recipients: Chancellor Saudia Vyandar, Chief of Lancer Operations Helion Weekes, Chief of ADVENT Engineering and Development Feng Mercado, Chief Diplomat Firdaus Hassan, Director of ADVENT Intelligence Elizabeth Falka, XCOM Central Officer Ariel Jackson
The latest operation has proved to be the catalyst we need to refocus our efforts on the alien war itself, and halt the falling civilian and military morale, which has been a growing issue since Japan. Not only have we retaken significant ground as a result of this operation, we have restored a measure of confidence in the population regarding our ability to combat the aliens.
It is abundantly clear that the aliens were unprepared both for the scale of our assault, as well as our technological advances. Our victories were decisive, but I would caution expecting this level of success for future battles. The aliens will be much better informed about our capabilities in the future, and with the Battlemaster's near death, I expect he will not take us lightly again.
In addition to the territory itself being recaptured, we have gathered valuable combat data on how some of our more advanced technology holds up during the stresses of combat. Much like the operation, it has performed at, or above expectations. I will separate results into respective categories as follows:
SHIELDBEARERS: The redesigned Shieldbearer units proved instrumental in every single major assault. The emitted magnetic fields did deflect and reflect plasma bolts as projected, and there were no instances of friendly fire as a result of this. There was a noticeable reaction from alien forces upon this realization, and I do not know if such technology has been encountered by them before.
The concerns of power also played a part, but thanks to proper management, it was a mitigated concern. The Shieldbearers are most critical during pushes or initial charges. These can take between five and ten minutes, which is the rough span of a Shieldbearer battery. If necessary, batteries can be replaced and if that's the drawback to this armor, it is a minor one at worst. I anticipate our Shieldbearers will continue to play a major part in the campaign going forward.
Concerning the alien response to this, I would not be surprised if Shieldbearers were designated as priority targets, or that the aliens began incorporating additional kinds of ballistic or laser weaponry into their own forces instead of exclusively plasma. While it will negate the impact of our Shieldbearers, this makes the alien military as a whole much less dangerous as a result.
SHIVS: Much like the MDUs, these smaller mechanized units have proven themselves extremely effectively. Their deployment range was limited as few have been constructed, but the ones deployed performed exceptionally. While the MDU is undoubtedly superior is general combat capabilities, the SHIV has a much different role, and that is one of mobility.
The SHIV Engineers used them primarily in sweeping buildings, houses, and other confined spaces that MDUs would not be able to reach. It also fulfilled the role of a suppressive turret, allowing ADVENT forces to hold positions they might have otherwise lost. With that said, SHIVs are essentially useless if the main weapon is destroyed, and while we barely lost any SHIV units, many were rendered inoperable by localized fire on the main gun by alien forces. This is something that might need to be addressed in the future.
PROJECT MOLOSSER: While I have documented my skepticism of Project Molosser, I am pleased to have been proven wrong. The genetically enhanced hounds proved to be both extremely powerful against entrenched infantry forces (Primarily Vitakara), as well as disrupting and demoralizing to the aliens themselves.
We fortunately only had a few Molosser Hounds die in combat, which I assume is due to their skin modifications. Regardless of how these hounds were created, their effectiveness was proven, and I will officially call for an expansion of the project. Munju will have what he needs if he desires.
However, I would expect the aliens to counter this in some way. Unfortunately, the most likely response is the deployment of their Chryssalids, something they have avoided using so far. Alternatively, supplementing their own forces with psions, Berserkers, or the Oyariah Titans, would be appropriate responses to the issue. We will still need to be selective in how we use them.
INTER-CITY STREET SWEEPER PROTOCOLS: The aliens learned the hard way that infantry does not hold up against tanks, especially not those equipped with Mine Flail attachments. The aliens curiously have very little anti-armor equipment, aside from Cyberdisks and Sectopods, and I am still unsure if they are simply holding it back, or they genuinely do not have any at all.
While the usage of tanks in a street sweeper role proved effective this operation, I expect it will not be in the future. Even in this operation barricades were obstacles certain tanks could avoid and had to take detours, and they are very bottled and vulnerable to anti-armor weapons if, and when, the aliens use them. We will need to be somewhat more careful in future operations so we don't lose our own tanks unnecessarily.
LANCERS: This marks the first time our Lancer Corps has participated in open and large-scale operations, which I was initially against due to their designated role of a more traditional special forces unit. With that said, the Lancers were by far our most effective infantry unit, and suffered very few casualties as a result of their genetic enhancement.
It is extremely clear that the Lancer Corps will have a role in all combat operations going forward, and this may warrant a further expansion of the program itself as a result of their exceptional performance. Their presence also had an impact on local soldier morale, as well as aliens. I expect that the more they are used, the more effective this will become. It may also make the aliens see them less as a special forces unit, and instead a form of shock troopers, allowing the Lancer Corps to continue their traditional operations with perhaps less scrutiny than there would be otherwise.
CONCLUSION: This operation served as a trial-by-fire for our more experimental technology, and a response to the aliens themselves that we can more than hold our own against him. I will repeat that future victories on this scale are unlikely, but we have proven we can rout the aliens when they become overconfident.
This is an embarrassment for them, and I would be slightly concerned with their response. Their primary leader was publicly defeated, and their armies decisively destroyed. There were no victories, and they will not take that lying down. The Battlemaster now knows he can be killed. The concern that we might have awakened a more powerful Collective is troubling, but it was always going to reach this point one day.
We will simply have to be as prepared as we can be.
ADVENT Autopsy Report 1109
Subject: Las Vegas Alien Corpses
Author: ADVENT Pathologist Si Sang-He
Normally the autopsy of the various aliens recovered would not warrant a specific report to be sent to ADVENT Command, but in this case I feel that there should be an exception made due to the sheer irregularity that has baffled my entire team, with the implications ranging from bizarre to horrific. I will also note that while this report will primarily deal with recovered Vitakarian corpses of varying races, Mutons and Andromedons are not excluded.
Also note that these results are only from the Las Vegas battleground. Autopsy reports from Seattle, Salem, and Hillsboro appear to be largely normal.
Notation 1 – Unrealistic Number of Suicides/Self-inflicted Casualties: This point I need to draw specific attention too, since it was by far the most common cause of death for all Vitakara forces. Nearly every single one was found isolated from the main arenas of combat, and further analysis reveals them to have died before, or during times where we had not reached their position.
While I confess to being unfamiliar with xenopsychology, and their methods of suicide (Assuming they have similar issues leading to such), the majority of the means of committing suicide was done with a plasma pistol directly to the head. Based on the autopsy, it was primarily done by placing the barrel to the side, of the temple, or against the forehead, or inserting the barrel into the mouth and firing. All of these are noted and effective methods of suicide-for Humans.
I would assume this may be a coincidence for aliens like Vitakarians, whose physiology is similar to our own, but this was also observed in Borelians, Cobrarian, Dath'Haram and Mutons, most of which are not similar to our physiology. Especially in the case of the Cobrarians, autopsies seem to indicate that it didn't kill them instantly, but only mortally wounded them. Borelians had to be shot multiple times, and sometimes it was from multiple angles, indicating that the Borelian was executed by someone else. In general, the idea of a Muton committing suicide seems suspect, since they do not appear intelligent, nor independent enough to actually consider such a prospect. And to have them carry it out via known Human methods is even more suspect.
This was not the only method of apparent suicide found. There were several corpses that had clearly fallen from large heights, largely around several of the hotels that I now know were snipers nests. The location explains why several dozen similar corpses were found with that kind of damage, and there were no additional marks or wounds on them that might otherwise be on a corpse that was thrown via an explosion or gunshot.
Notation 2 – Mass Killings/Torture: Corpses that fit this description are thankfully fewer, but far more disturbing as a result. In addition to the suicides, there appear to have been several instances where the aliens lined up a collection of various species and just killed them. The corpses are clumped together, and every single one is executed via a headshot. This is primarily just Mutons and several Borelians, but one Andromedon suit was also found with one such group of corpses.
More puzzling are the Mutons that appear to have been tortured before death. The wounds appear to be ritualistic in some way, though the meaning escapes me. None are in vital areas, but finding one Muton partially flayed was not pleasant. This was exclusively Mutons, and no other aliens were affected. Though someone was clearly doing the cutting.
If it hasn't been clear this is not normal. There are no instances of the aliens even having anything remotely like this in their cultures. If anything, I've heard the opposite. The question then, is what could possibly explain what happened here. This is an additional point that I need to address, and while it is highly speculative, it needs to be discussed.
Notation 3 – Disparity Between Fresh and Old Corpses: I am not strictly speaking talking in terms of damage. This largely applies to Vitakara, and less so the other species, and the methods of death are largely suicide, as noted earlier. The older corpses have been noted to be a fairly even split on if it was a suicide or execution by another alien. This is not the case for the later corpses, where every single one was a suicide via plasma weapon.
The execution methods are also noticeably sloppier with the later corpses than earlier ones, which had an unnerving precision to them. It was effective and would not cause much suffering. Some of the later alien corpses definitely suffered before death, and it seems odd they would lose their composure now.
However, the main question raised is why their physical expressions are so different. Oddly enough, the earlier corpses look almost peaceful, several even having their lips in approximations of smiles (Another odd Human quirk), at least when enough of the face was preserved to gauge that. This contrasts later corpses which look utterly terrified, broken, or otherwise sad. This is not an isolated case either, this is very clearly documented in the various autopsies. It was as if something changed partway through the battle, but they killed themselves anyway.
Extrapolation: I will be blunt here, there are only a very few amount of possibilities:
1. This is some kind of alien ritual. I disagree with this because there have been no instances of this being observed before, and heavily disputes known alien psychology and habits. They don't kill themselves, and certainly not when they are being attacked.
2. Psionic manipulation. This would explain the situation very clearly, and while I am unfamiliar with the intricacies of psionics, telepathy is possible, and thus I imagine it would be very possible to do this. Since I do not believe the aliens would do this to their own, that only leaves another Human that forced this.
While I have no love for the aliens, this crosses a line that I fear can only lead somewhere worse. I do not know what psion could do this, but there needs to be some efforts made to bring them under control. Anyone who could do this is either a sadist or sociopath, and the idea of someone like that having this kind of power is terrifying, more than the aliens themselves.
This is not a baseless accusation. A Human did this, and they need to be quarantined and examined at once to prove they are mentally sound. As useful as someone like this is, people like these are unstable, and acts like this violate some of our own standards regarding helpless opponents. ADVENT must take action here, and this is why I bring it to your attention.
Internal memo distributed to the Internal Council shortly after the Third Battle of the United States of America
The recent operations have firmly displayed that our ability to adapt and innovate continues to be our ultimate advantage. While the aliens remained stagnant, we have made efforts to increase our strengths and mitigate our losses. As a result, casualties were very low, and technologically we appear to have a slight advantage, not taking into account our psions who solidified our victory.
This was the first true field test for some of our new equipment, and the data gathered from it will be instrumental in continuing to ensure they are relevant in this war. In addition, the acquisition of eight Andromedon defectors is a massive boon to our own operations, and once they have been fully debriefed, we will determine how best to utilize them. Information beyond Earth is difficult to find, and V'Thrask and his Andromedons will shed light on the wider situation in the Ethereal Collective.
The implications of this will be discussed shortly; there are several topics to highlight here first:
The Archangel Program Is to be expanded: The complete lack of any adequate response to the Archangels was something even I did not expect. The Floaters are inferior is almost every aspect, as the Archangels are more mobile, protected, and intelligent than anything currently in their anti-infantry air forces.
That the aliens appear unable to currently counter this is something that cannot be relied on in the future, but will nonetheless be something to take into account. Based on the data acquired, Psionic and Templar Archangels were slightly more effective than standard Archangels, but we must work on their specific utilization better.
Regardless, the Archangel Program is one that will be expanded as needed.
Mandatory Genetic Modifications have Greatly Increased Effectiveness: In total there were three casualties, two of which came from the Battlemaster. Not only has the mortality rate of XCOM soldiers decreased, but effectiveness has increased by a significant amount. Basic Collective soldiers are no longer a threat to us, and I personally participated in wiping out alien forces many times larger than our own.
We will need to see if this stays consistent in future conflicts, but as it stands, making genetic modifications mandatory has only made XCOM more dangerous.
WHEEE Cannon Schematics are to be Distributed to ADVENT Immediately: Considering the weapon causes Andromedons to explode, not to mention nearly killing the Battlemaster, there is little reason to keep the primary schematics to ourselves. I will authorize a slightly less effective schematic be sent to them, the exact specifications to be determined, but we cannot keep the weapon to ourselves for the sake of it.
With that understanding, I do not expect the aliens to not take steps to address this. The next iteration of XCOM armor needs to be resistant to electrical attacks, because now the aliens may attempt to emulate us in this aspect, and I suspect we would do just as poorly as them.
Psions Can Devastate Alien Forces: In every instance where we deployed psions, the battles immediately turned in our favor. The aliens do not have an answer to our own psions, with the exception of Gatekeepers for Telepaths, and I expect they will not be able to without lessening the effectiveness of their own forces. These new Sectoids may be a response to this, but they are already inferior to our own psions.
Patricia and Fatima also demonstrated once more the usefulness of telepathy against alien forces, and reduced whatever defenses were in Vegas to almost nothing. With that said, ADVENT has brought some information to my attention that will need to be discussed later, but the overall tactic is still extremely effective.
The Battlemaster Can Be Killed: Had Carmelita managed to hit the Battlemaster, I suspect he might not be a problem anymore. While he will likely learn from this, today we proved that we can kill him eventually. It will not be easy, but with the combined power of the Templars, Shinobi, and WHEEE cannons, in addition to projects related to Artemis, the days of the Battlemaster may be numbered.
With that said, he now has a better idea of what we are capable of, and I doubt he will underestimate us further. Caution when dealing with him is still advised.
The Andromedon Defectors: The implications of V'Thrask and his subordinates defecting is something that cannot be overstated. V'Thrask has stated he is acting on orders, which indicates that there are events happening in the Collective which we could potentially exploit. Despite having received nothing from Nartha, I wonder if this is in part because of him.
Regardless, not only can they provide information on the political situation in the Collective, they can likely help assist in the development and refinement of our own technology. V'Thrask also revealed that everyone he brought with him are experts in various fields. It appears they took lower-level positions for the sole purpose of eventually defecting to us.
This was a mission for them, and they wouldn't go through all this trouble unless they had something worth sharing with us. That is something we will now determine immediately.
- The Commander
Battlemaster,
There is little point wasting time with this report. You saw that ADVENT and XCOM have made significant and unexpected advances that our own forces were unable to adequately combat. The flaws of our military have been exposed, and steps will need to be taken to properly fix them. It will require investment, but the majority of issues have relatively simple solutions:
1. Creation and Usage of Anti-Telepathy Techniques: The fact that one telepath, no matter how strong was able to completely cripple our Las Vegas army cannot be tolerated any longer. While I understand the risks to your species that development of anti-psionics poses, ADVENT and XCOM, quite simply, do not care. They are going to keep doing this over and over until they win or we do something about it.
While the cybernetic augmentation that some Mutons have undergone is useful, it is ultimately crude and potentially vulnerable to hacking or other electronic attacks. In addition, the majority of our Vitakara forces will likely not submit to it, nor will many Andromedons.
A temporary measure should be the increased production of Gatekeepers and their deployment in major strongholds. Their ability to disrupt telepathy is worth us not being able to deploy psions of our own. It will not stop all psionics, but it will give our soldiers a fighting chance against the main ADVENT military
2. Creation and Utilization of Anti-Armor Weaponry: The usage of armored vehicles is something that we are extremely unprepared for, despite knowing about their capabilities for some time. There are easy ways we can mitigate their effect, such as mines, barricades, or mobile units.
In addition, we should consider the development of specific anti-armor weaponry beyond what we already have. This should be done in conjunction with the Federation and Greater Hive Commanders for optimum results. I would also advise the construction of armored vehicles of our own, which is a notable deficiency in our ranks which Sectopods and Cyberdisks do not adequately address.
3. Utilization of Orbital or Low-Atmosphere Bombardment: Until we gain more control of the world, we need to focus on winning battles and that will now require bringing in heavier equipment to ensure our victory until our tactics have been reevaluated. The Andromedons have plenty of ships for this purpose, and those should be utilized. While it gives us a distinct advantage, the time for toying with the Humans is coming to an end.
4. Expansion of Infantry Weaponry: ADVENT now has technology that can render plasma fire ineffective. This will need to be solved at once. The development of advanced ballistic weaponry or laser tech must now take priority, because ADVENT is going to keep using this and for now, I see no way to remove it completely.
5. Sectoid Vanguards: The Vanguards proved extremely effective against standard ADVENT forces, but the moment a psion appeared or long-range support was called, they died quickly. If those two things can be regulated, the Vanguard will be extremely useful in operations. We simply need to be smarter about where to deploy them; otherwise the initial results provided by the Vanguards are promising.
6. Acceleration of Region Destabilization: I would advise that the plans discussed in regards to taking advantage of several tenuous positions on Earth be started immediately. There is no point in delaying, and we can take advantage of their temporary confidence when they wouldn't expect it.
7. Expansion of Zararch Operations on Earth: That we were largely unaware of some of the newest developments in ADVENT is unacceptable, and despite the measures ADVENT has taken to reduce infiltration, we have other means of establishing means of information extraction. This needs to be carried out as soon as possible to prevent a defeat on this scale from happening again.
8. Determination of Seattle Defense Failure: We know quite well how Vegas and our bases near Portland fell, but Seattle is a baffling mystery. ADVENT has not reported the capture or neutralization of Overseer V'Thrask, and any kind of outgoing information has been corrupted or lost. ADVENT reports state that the shield came down at one point; likely allowing several teams within to destroy the shield.
The implications are unpleasant. Either this was an act of severe incompetence, or more likely, internal sabotage. I will need to check with Quisilia to see if Nartha has been more active than believed. Considering there were a fair number of Vitakara deployed, a traitor would not be out of the realm of possibility. Even if it wasn't a traitor, we need to know exactly what happened there.
I want to also point to the fact that the ADVENT PRIEST Program has not yet been deployed, and all of this appears to have been accomplished with little interference from Aegis. It also appears that the Humans have solved elerium, and it is likely that they will become more advanced in the coming months. This kind of technological progress is dangerous, and combined with an army of psions, we might be in a bad position unless steps are not taken.
Consider this when considering our response. We cannot afford to toy with them any longer.
- Zar'Chon'ravarian'vitiary