City Outskirts, Buenos Aires, Argentina

9/24/17- 9: 56 AM

I had to say, our new digs weren't all that bad.

Sure, it didn't have the cool, incognito underground feel of the old hideout, but it was something. It was more spacious, and the idea of camping out in old stacked-up shipping containers was nice, too.

We'd gotten there under the cover of night, and had a restless night's worth of sleep. We couldn't be too sure… but it seems like the game was up. Nothing had happened, and we seemed to be in the clear for now.

But at the meeting the next morning, gathered in what used to be an office, Elijah and the rest were discussing what would come next.

Because something had to.

"I understand many of you are shaken from the events of last night. If it were not for Dawn, we would all certainly be dead now." Everyone responded with a chorus of nods aimed in my direction. I smiled, proud, nodding in return. "But now this has shown that our continued actions have been extremely effective. They would not have sent such assets after us if they did not see us as a serious threat. But it is not only here. Stanley, if you will?"

The resident Inquisitor nodded. "I've gotten a report from ADVENT about our activities in the area. They've been impressed with what we and others have accomplished, and will ramp up their aid."

"Others?"

"Indeed. Check this out."

He pulled out his phone, angling the screen. Several cities were highlighted - Mendoza, Cordoba, and several others. "You guys haven't been the only ones. Seems like the word gets around."

Pictures of destroyed alien cowboys, raided bases, corpses...damn. Looks like we had more bite than we thought. "Other operations like this one have been going on. Elijah and I have been passing word through radio to others, as well as the ADVENT higher-ups. You all have been doing a great service, and others are getting inspired."

Violet smirked. "So we ramp things up?"

Elijah nodded. "Indeed. I believe we are getting closer to being able to hit the communications array. But…"

"The cartels?" I interjected. "Aren't they still a problem?"

"They won't be for much, fortunately." Rodriguez stepped up. "We're narrowing down locations as we speak. Their days are numbered."

"But for now, we're going to lay low for a bit." Rafal said. "Plan, re-evaluate, revise, and then we hit them hard."

"Sounds like a plan." Enrique spoke up. This was his hideout, after all. "There's more than enough space for everyone here, but watch out for the animals - there are some jaguars in the area. Fuckers have been all over the place since the people left."

Oooh. Little bit of sightseeing?

"That's good. If nothing else... dismissed, everyone."

I walked out of the meeting room and into the storage facility, walking past the various stacked shipping crates. Cartel had used this as a front for their operations, but damn if some good stuff hadn't been left behind. Food, medicine - lots of good stuff. But there were a lot more empty ones than ones stocked with...well, whatever, so some of the people here had opted to use the empty containers as makeshift rooms.

And I was no different.

When we got here, I used one of the mobile ladders the workers had used to get up higher to climb to one of the stacked crates and make it my own home. At night, I'd partially close its 'doors' when I'd sleep, making it feel just a little more private.

I climbed up the ladder, using my strength to close the crates' doors before sitting down. I'd slept in my armor, even though I really didn't need to. It felt like a second skin at the point. If I was back home, I'd be wearing anything but this. But, you got used to it. After a while, it felt...lighter than the first time you put it on. Maybe it was just me getting used to it. Whatever the case, when I'd get back, I was certainly going to have a new appreciation for linen clothes. Sure, they weren't psionically enhanced power armor, but they had their own special feel to them.

I picked up the helmet I'd left on my sleeping bag, and put it on.

"Helmet, record. Personal log."

A small red light blinked on the lower right- hand bottom of my HUD.

"So, bad news and good news for me, I guess. The bad news is that I got an Avatar sent after me. Shame he's not gonna find anything where we used to be. The good news is that we're actually making a difference here. It's been almost what, two fucking months? Halloween's in a couple of weeks, hopefully I can get back before then. Don't know if they have a party or something like that back there, but couldn't hurt to hope, I guess."

"Violet is...Zoe is...well, she's gotten better. All the psions have. Guess what Geist taught me rubbed off on me a little. Without the sociopathy, of course. Guess he really does know how to teach." I sighed. "I never thought I'd be saying this, but I miss him. We don't have as many lessons anymore, but I miss the guy. He wasn't the nicest, sure, but he knew how to guide me. I don't know if it's tough love or what, but he knew what he was doing. Did you know the guy had a girlfriend? Yeah, heard about it from Ted. Patricia killed her, apparently. Better remember not to bring that up around him, ever."

"Aegis. Miss him too, I guess. More commanding then Geist, but he still gets the message. Always good to have someone who can kick your ass a hundred times over just to remind you how good you really are. You can't sense his emotion well, but you can tell he cares. I really need to thank him when he gets back."

"Mm...Kunio. My teleporting friend. Where would I be without him? I mean, he was the first soldier there to actually try and give a shit about me, and look where that's gone. I wonder if he sees me as a nice figure. Wouldn't mind if he did, actually. You know I'd never actually met a Japanese person in-person before meeting him?" I snorted. "Guess someone really had to get out of Nashville and see the world. Then again, I never thought I'd be friends with a North Korean, so that's something."

Why am I doing this again?

Am I really that afraid of talking about this in front of the others?

Am I really that lonely?

C'mon Dawn.

And this is what the therapist was for. But she wasn't here. My friends weren't here.

"I'm sorry, guys." I knew I was just staring at the metal wall, talking to absolutely no one but myself. But I had to say something, damnit. I couldn't just be silent and do nothing. I had to feel busy, like I was doing something important.

I mean, Elijah was a friend...I guess. He made a lot of good points, and he'd been doing this for much longer than I had. The box of lollipops were nice, but I'd mostly left it alone for now. I hadn't had lollipops in months, but for some reason the box had a feel to it.

It was hard to explain.

As for Violet, she wasn't really a 'friend' yet, but I felt like that was starting to change. Our last conversation more than proved that. I guess my training had rubbed off on her. Speaking of...

I sensed someone outside of my door. Violet. She knocked.

"Come in!"

The door squeaked open. "Are we going to train today?"

I took off my helmet. "Oh. You want to?"

"Of course! After you warned us, you think we're going to sit around and do nothing?"

I smiled. "Alright then. Get the rest and have them meet me in the back room in ten minutes."

"What's the lesson, teacher?" She winked.

"You calling me teacher now?"

"What else do I call you?" She smiled. "Imperialist capitalist pig?"

I snorted, shrugging. "You seemed pretty intent on seeing me as that a while ago."

"Things changed. If you hadn't warned us, we'd be dead meat."

"Well, that's what I'm here for."

"And I am glad for it. Now, what's the lesson plan today?"

'What it always is. Tearing shit up."

"I like the sound of that."

City Outskirts, Buenos Aires, Argentina

9/25/17- 7:45 PM

Under the cover of the evening, I sat outside in the decrepit yard of where the workers here used to load whatever they were shipping onto trucks. Now, the environment was reclaiming this place piece by piece. The abandoned cars were slowly rusting as plants and vines crept over them, I could sense animals going about their business, and overall everything was quiet.

"Hey."

I turned around, noticing Violet walking up to me, taking a seat next to me on the concrete block, part of the loading dock where they'd loaded boxes into trucks.

"Hey."

"What're you doing out here?"

I sighed. "Thinking. I could use the quiet, really. After all what we get up to."

"I can agree. You can call me Zoe, you know."

"Sorry. Just getting used to calling you that."

"Fair enough." She shifted her legs, hanging off the concrete block like I was. "I'm sorry."

I lifted an eyebrow. I wasn't using my telepathy right now - well, not to monitor her emotions, at least. "What? Why?"

She sighed. "I treated you like shit at the beginning because I didn't trust you. I was already suspicious of XCOM and ADVENT - you know this. We waited for months, you know. Fighting. Killing. Running. Hiding. Losing people. We wondered when the hell we were going to get help. We thought you guys had left us all out rot and dry. But then Stanley showed up, snapped the necks of a couple of Mutons, told us he was there to help. Rodriguez took him in, of course. What were we gonna do, tell ADVENT to go fuck themselves?"

"I...I guess?"

"But then you guys show up- XCOM. The one, the only. I was excited, but I was also nervous. Who's to say you guys might betray us later? Who's to say what'll happen to our country when this is over?"

"Violet, if you think I'm going to stab you in the back and pull an Order 66 on you, you're wrong!"

"Of course you wouldn't, and I don't think that now! But I was afraid- we were all afraid! And then I found out that a kid was going to help me. Sure, I'm a year older than you, but I was just so offended at the thought that 'this kid's going to school me' and I just...I've been a bitch to you, and I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted, Zoe. I get it."

"You do?"

"Yeah. The insecurity. The feeling you're inadequate and that everyone around you is just better."

"Was it when you joined?"

"Yeah. My first night there, I had a panic attack. Broke down crying in front of everyone in my barracks because I didn't think I was good enough."

"You cried?"

"Yeah. There was this veteran, you wouldn't know her. Korean woman, good Templar. I was eating that night and she sat down next to me. Made some smartass comment about my age. Went on to give me a hard truth or two about working for them. I just...I just gave up then. Ran to my bunk, got under the covers, and right then and there, I thought I was complete and utter shit."

"Then what changed?"

"Then my squadmates came around and acted like people with actual decency. Calmed me down, told me I was worth a damn." I sighed. "And then, surrounded by all those women, I realized something."

"What'd you realize?"

"I realized that just because I was different doesn't mean I should limit myself or resign myself to what I am. I am XCOM's youngest soldier. I am...a lot of things. But just because one person said I didn't belong didn't mean that I had to focus so much on that. When I trained with Aegis-"

"You trained with Aegis?"

I nodded. "Oh yeah. He's a great guy once you get to know him."

"What's it like? Training with an Ethereal?"

I smiled. "It's glorious. Absolutely amazing. The first few times, you can't get over staring at him. The commanding voice, the armor, the robes - it's hard not to get out of your head. And the knowledge - he puts one finger to your head, and boom, you know so much. But he teaches you, doesn't treat you like some kind of underling. He knows who you are, what you can do, what you want. You'd think it'd be so hard trying to comprehend a being so smart and sold, but really? He's not like that. Or if he is, he does a damn good job of hiding it. He cares. It's not a parent's love, Zoe, but it's damn close."

"He's really like that?"

"Yeah. But...back on topic. I'm different from them. So who cares what one person thinks? She relented eventually, anyway, but the point is that sometimes, some days, you realize that comparing yourself to others isn't the right thing to do. You make your own path, Zoe. You don't ride off the coattails of those who came before you. Those veterans, those that have been there for so much longer then you have- they're not you. Can you learn things from the? Yeah. But at the end of the day, it's you who makes the decisions. No one walked up to me and just gave me psionics. I made the choice to get tested, I made the choice to join."

"And you chose to come here."

"Yeah." I smiled. "Thought it'd get me out of the house for a bit."

She snorted. "Not bad. But what happened back when you were reading that alien's mind? What did you see?"

I pursed my lips. "You want to know?"

She nodded.

"There once was a boy. His parents...well, they were bad people. Real bad people. He lived in decadence while millions of his countrymen suffered. They lived in fear, vanished, lost family members, suffered god knows how many brutalities and atrocities because of them. Did he know? He was smart, I think he did. But he did not care. He got the best schooling money could buy, had everything he wanted. And then, just in one night, he lost it all."

"What happened to this...boy?"

"People came. Justice caught up with his family. They resisted. They were put down. He ran, afraid that things would never be the same. That the reckoning that was coming would consume him too. But...along came a saving grace. A little spider, who, like him, had lost everything too. All she wanted was a friend. Someone to lean on to. Psionic powers. Influence. A seat of power. And the best part? Revenge. And all he had to do was say yes."

"And he said yes?"

"Oh, he did. He was filled with anger. Hate. Loss. It consumed him like a cancer, taking control of him. And over time, the boy was whittled away, piece by piece. Slowly turned from a teenager like me into an assassin that has nothing left but his hate. Is there still a part of him left in there? Oh, I think so. Deep down in whatever the fuck his mind is now. But he's gone. Radicalized, manipulated by those leagues smarter than him to be what they wanted to be? Did she care about him? Maybe. But she continued the cycle of abuse. Her family's loss broke her, then her new father broke her, and now she broke him just like she was."

"But what's your stake in this? Why focus on this traitor guy of all things?"

I smiled. "Exactly. It's... complicated. If anything…it's more of a two-sides-of-the-same-coin kind of thing."

It could happen to you, too.

"Mierda." She shook her head. "And how do you know all of this?"

"We at XCOM have a lot more information then we like to let on. Throw in a little conjecture and some questions to Aegis, and you figure something out."

"And who is this person? Did you know him?"

I pursed my lips, trying to put the words together in my mind. "There's an Ethereal assassin. Sicarius. He's her Avatar."

"Fuck. Can XCOM kill her?"

I grinned. "You know how we laid waste to Patricia in Ankara? We've got a lot more people with powers like that. More than the Collective wants to believe. And things are changing."

"Well, that's foreboding."

"Well, I could tell you more, but then I'd have to kill you."

"Fair enough." She stared off into the forest for a minute. "It's not a bad place to live, eh?"

"Hm?"

"Buenos Aires. Sure, it's got less people, but it's got its perks. Where'd you live before this all went down?"

"Nashville, Tennessee."

"I'm not familiar with that one. What's there?"

"A crap ton of country music and hot chicken."

"Hot chicken?"

"Oh my god, it's amazing. It's like fried chicken, right? But you coat the whole thing in cayenne sauce, put it on some white bread, and add some pickle chips, and you have a dee-licious meal." I noticed her raised eyebrow, reacting to my overly enthusiastic description. "Ahem. Sorry, I ate like only that for half my childhood, ha."

"Replace that with asado, and you've got a deal. Hmp. If we both make it out of this, I might want to pay a visit if this 'hot chicken' is as good as you say it is."

"I'd be more than happy to show you around."

She nodded. "I...I have one more question."

"Shoot."

"Do you think I'd make good XCOM material?"

I almost laughed. "You want to join?"

She smiled, winking. "Nah. Just curious. If they let you in, I've got a chance, no?"

"Of course. I'm sure your personality alone is a good enough weapon against the aliens."

"Ha ha ha. Very funny."

"I try, Zoe. But honestly? Not really. I mean, you'll need more skill training, obviously. But-" I nudged her with an elbow. "If they need more Dynamo psions, I'll consider you. I mean, we have several people who I'm convinced are actual psychopaths in our ranks, so mentally, I think you'd be okay."

"Sounds like a plan. Dinner should be ready soon, you want to head back inside in a minute?"

"Sure."

"And Dawn?"

"Yeah?"

"We're good, right?"

I smiled. "We're good."

City Outskirts, Buenos Aires, Argentina

9/26/17- 10:25 AM

I was walking back to my crate when I noticed Elijah sitting on one of the parked pickup trucks in the garage, fiddling with something in his hand. It was small and gold, like a coin you'd see in pirates booty from a movie.

"Elijah." I walked up to him. "Watcha doing?"

Elijah looked up at her. "Ah, our little lioness. How are you?"

I sighed. "Good. I guess. What's that in your hand? A coin or something?"

He held it up for me. It was a pin, made with intricate care. It was made of silver, and inlaid with gold details. The face of a snarling lion, mane dancing in wind. It's eyes seemed alive, a hint of fury and hunger within.

"You can call it that, yes," he said, somberly.

"It's a...lion. A symbol, is it? You do work for a guy called The Lion, after all. Very apropos, eh?"

He played with it, dark skin contrasting the shining metal. "They say the pin was not his, that it was some else's. That it belonged to someone who lived during the War on Terror. Someone who died there."

"War on Terror, huh? Did you fight in it?"

"No, but I know those who did," Elijah patted the place besides him. "They speak of this pin, like they speak of an epitaph. A memory that never came alive. Of conspiracies and war fought in the dark. Of the honored dead, and of the future that would never come."

"Reminds me of how my uncle would talk about it. He..he wasn't the same when he got back. He lost a leg and his mind too - well, the latter for a while. Last I heard he was signing up for some psionic therapy treatments. But…" I shook my head. "It was some ugly shit. And I blame that Commander guy for sending him into that hellhole."

"There are two types of men, lioness," he muttered. "The monstrous and the simple. Make no mistake, the Caliph was of the monstrous. An animal that had to be put down. You couldn't comprehend what hideous thing lay behind his human face."

"Monsters weren't just there, you know." I sighed. I hadn't told anyone else this besides Yates and a few others...but he might understand. "Back home, there were riots. Chaos. Islamophobia rose like a motherfucker in the US - not just there either. I had a friend. She came from an immigrant family. Sunni Muslim, nice people. Her name was Raha. Nice person. We hung out a lot. Her parents ran a restaurant a couple of blocks down from where I lived. Taught her a little English, and she taught me a few words of Arabic. 'Course, I've forgotten that now, but…"

"What happened?"

I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "It was just after the Caliph died. People were celebrating. How could they not? The monster was dead, the Caliphate gone for good. But...not everyone was happy. Some people blamed all Muslims for what happened. And…"

"Someone attacked them?"

"Yeah. They were in one of our city's mosques, hosting an event. A mob of rioters attacked them, and set fire to the place." I looked down, gulping. "A few people died, but it scared the shit out of her family. They left the next week."

I looked down. "It was years ago, but I never got to say goodbye."

"They say that no one decides when their death comes, that fate makes fools of us all," Elijah raised the pin high, eyes locked on it. "I think it was fate that killed them, fate mocking us. Fate reminding us. Fate." Light glinted off of the pin. "Do you believe in fate?"

"We make our own fate. If it was out of our hands, whatever god made someone just to get burned to death by a bunch of racists in a place they called home has a fuckin' sick sense of humor."

"The very same one that made this meeting possible," Elijah raised a hand to the sky, smiling. "The very same one who has shown me that I am the very same monster, as those racists were. I have committed crimes you would find unforgivable, murder, arson, kidnapping, torture."

He raised the pin to the sky, it shone in the light. "Yet here I hold this, this symbol, this haunting piece of metal, this reminder of..."

"Of what you did? Back before...all of this?"

"Of who I should be," Elijah said. "Who we all should be. To stand in the face of suffering, in the face of this long, twisted, winding path, and live a life worth living. To be more than a killer, more than a tool. To be more than a glorified murderer."

"And that's not what I should be. Not a glorified murder, not just a killer."

"No," he confirmed. "There must be something true, there must be something just, right and wrong are not subject to our whims. There must be courage, justice, and we must be stalwart, defiant, and there must be strength beyond petty rulers playing games of power."

Elijah placed the pin back on his coat. "Was there ever anything else worth killing for? If not the dream of a better tomorrow for all? If not the ability to stand the test of fate, and cry, cry out, cry roaring like lions, that we will not go silently into the night?"

I wasn't sure how to respond to that. He had a point, no, scratch that, a lot of good points. I felt like I was in some kind of philosophy class. "I...I'm not sure how to respond to that."

He put a hand on my head. "One day, you'll know the answer. The answer will come."

"One day," he ruffled her hair with a grin. "You'll know that there is strength beyond strength. Power beyond power. I hold faith in that."

"You do?"

The pin reflected light, snarling lion and shining eyes and flaring mane.

Elijah smiled wide. "Don't you?"

"I…" I squinted. "Power." Psionic power? "I mean, psionic power? I've got plenty of that lying around. But any psion who thinks themselves powerful because of their Trask level is an idiot. I'm more powerful than ninety-five percent of other human psions on Earth, but that doesn't mean a simple plasma bolt or grenade can't kill me. I'm more than just my psionics. And you're just more than a guy with a gun."

"There...there is more than strength. Strength isn't everything." I shook my head. "It doesn't make sense."

"Strength beyond strength," he tapped his heart, grinning in amusement. "Strength beyond strength, lioness. In the beat of our hearts, in the desire for justice, in the hunger of righteousness, in seeing the boundaries of transgression, of good and evil. That strength that brutes and tyrants will never have."

"Strength beyond strength," he said. "Right here, right here. This is where it is." He pointed at her heart.

"Your feelings? Conviction? Emotion?"

Elijah stood up, saying nothing as he buttoned up his coat.

"Wait!"

He stopped.

"Do you think you have true strength?"

"I strive for it, to understand and attain it," he said, glancing back at her. "A life of struggle and strife, that is all I have."

And with that, he climbed off of the truck, and walked away.

What the hell did he mean by that?

I walked out of the room and back to my crate, climbing the ladder and closing the door.

Damn you Elijah for making me think. I smirked. Of course, I didn't actually mean that. If anything, I had to thank him.

City Outskirts, Buenos Aires, Argentina

9/28/17- 3:45 PM

"Everyone, listen up."

We all gathered around the meeting table as Elijah, Stanley, Rodriguez, and the other resistance leaders looked at the collection of maps on the table.

"After some careful analysis, we've managed to determine the location of where the cartel people are located. Thanks to the information Dawn retrieved from their operatives' minds, combined with intel taken from their raided safehouses and raven reconnaissance, we've pinpointed a compound out of which the cartel's been running all their operations. Thanks to ADVENT satellites, we've managed to get a good look at what they've got going on there."

The holomap flickered, changing to a colored bird's eye view. Zooming in, I could make out several square and rectangular buildings, partially masked by what looked like a mix of camouflage nets and tree covering. Several dirt roads led in and out of the compound, with a chain-link fence surrounding it. A few pickup trucks were scattered around the compound, with various boxes littered around it. As the images changed, people appeared and disappeared as the photos slid by.

"We estimate around thirty to forty people at most here. Radar reveals there are several underground areas where the gang members store supplies or sleep."

The images changed again, showing a closer image of those boxes from earlier. We watched as several people opened the boxes, revealing plasma rifles, grenades, and...

"What are those?" Zoe pointed to what looked like several large, black tubes.

"Plasma launchers." Rafal looked on with concern. "Basically the Collective equivalent of shoulder-mounted rocket launchers."

"Must've cost them a lot of chocolate to get those." Tang commented. "Nasty stuff."

"Not only that," Rodriguez changed the projection again, showing one of the pickup trucks loaded up with old kinetic weapons - including several RPGs, which looked like something straight out of an action movie. "They also have several rocket-propelled grenade launchers at their disposal, likely smuggled in or stolen from an abandoned military base. Whatever the case, they're heavily armed and dangerous. On the plus side, they have no psions, which will make taking them all out less challenging. If possible, we'll try to recover as many supplies and weapons as we can for our cause. Those plasma launchers would make us even more effective in combat."

He continued. "There's also a small airstrip with a Cessna on it, hidden with camouflage. We suspect they might try to use this to escape. If we can, we'll destroy the plane and kill anyone who tries to use it."

"There's more." Elijah changed the picture again, zooming on a man in body armor overseeing some of his goons unload the alien weapons. "We've identified the ringleader: Eustacio Murillo, better known by the locals and the DEA as 'El Monstruo'. One of the highest-level known guys in the Sinaloa Cartel, and one of the ones with the most blood on their hands. Responsible for several hundred murders in Mexico. From what can tell, he fled here as ADVENT purged Mexico and Central America of the cartels."

No.

No, it can't be.

"So he's barely hanging on." VIolet said. "And we have to finish him off."

"Indeed. Let me be clear. We are not going to capture or leave any of them alive. Dawn may extract information if she pleases, but make no mistake - these people are no better than terrorists. They trade blood for money, corrupt institutions with their greed, and have terrorized millions for decades. They will be eliminated swiftly, mercilessly, and brutally." He turned to the resistance fighters. "I understand some of you may have had past experience with the cartels. I know you have put that past you. If there are any of you who do not want to come, I understand."

Zoe stepped up. "It won't be an issue, sir."

Sir? Looks like someone's changed.

"Anyone else?"

Nothing.

"Alright, then. We'll attack them in three days. Enrique's men have acquired several trucks to transport us there, and Carina's people are joining us as well. Consider all hands on deck for this operation. Alien presence in the area is limited at best, so we shouldn't have to worry about aliens for now. And once we are done, the cartel's hold on this Earth will be broken forever."

Dramatic, Elijah. I like it.

I walked out of the room and to my crate. I tried to hide the surprise on my face when Elijah had name-dropped the guy in charge. I'd briefly skimmed his face when looking at Nico's file, but jesus.

You and I just keep crossing paths in the funniest ways, don't we?

Now here I am, finishing off what's left of your family.

Do you know?

Do you care?

Universe is a funny thing, innit?

Seems ADVENT didn't finish the job.

Well, I guess I'll have to, then.

I guess it has to be this way.

Jungle, Argentina

9/29/17- 2:34 PM

The pickup trucks moved through the muddy roads, bouncing occasionally as we moved past the trees. If my helmet was off, I probably would feel the hot, humid jungle air on my face. I could hear the buzzing of mosquitoes, as well as the constant squawking of whatever native birds were in the area. Zoe occasionally pointed some out to me, commenting on whatever she saw- apparently her aunt did birdwatching as a hobby.

Neat.

"Okay, let's go over the strategy one more time." Rafal's voice echoed through his helmet's speakers. The whole XCOM squad, had this truck, with one of Enrique's guys driving it. "We're going to hit them with a four-pronged attack. XCOM will hit from the north, Rodriguez's guys will hit from the South, Carina's people will attack from the west, and Enrique's men will attack from the east. We don't know for sure, but it's very well possible this base has tunnels used to smuggle drugs, people, what have you. We need to hit hard and quick to prevent anyone from escaping."

He looked at me. "Dawn, your telepathy's going to be vital here. You have my permission to use your powers at your own discretion. Find, identify, and kill. Extract information if you can, but you're going to be our equivalent of a bloodhound here. These forests are big, and it's very likely some will try to escape through it."

I snorted at the bloodhound comment. "Done and done, sir. Do I get a treat for this?"

He chuckled. "If you find something there, feel free to take it. They won't be alive for much longer." He turned to Tang. "Tang, use your shields liberally to protect the resistance fighters. It's very likely the cartel soldiers will have those RPGs and plasma launchers operational. We need to keep friendly casualties to a minimum here."

"Got it."

"Anyone have any other questions?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Alright people, good luck. Let's get this show on the road."

Twenty Minutes Later

We left the trucks, their drivers parking them under tree cover, waiting for any radio signal.

"Communicate only through radio. Try not to make too much noise."

And with that, we entered the jungle.

The environmental controls in my suit were already regulating the hot temperature I'd normally be feeling. Like Antarctica, I felt the temperature, but it was...numbed. The water-filled veins within my suits' infrastructure were being cooled like crazy. I wasn't sweating, but I'd imagine that if I wasn't wearing this suit, I definitely would be.

Another reason to thank for having an augmented body.

We trekked for a bit, with nothing much happening- mostly sightseeing, really. I couldn't help but admire the environment around me- all the greens of the jungle seamlessly blended in with each other. I could hear animals scurrying about, going on with their daily lives. Bird chirped and squealed in the trees, talking to each other in their own little languages.

I kinda felt a little jealous. They didn't understand that there was a war going on. They didn't understand, nor could comprehend, the scale of the world. They just...lived. Repeated their simple, daily cycles all over again. Get food. Find a mate. Chirp Lay eggs. Sleep. Rinse and repeat.

I wondered-

Something moved in the bushes. I almost shot it when I saw its spotted tail disappear behind a tree.

Jaguar.

The big cat appeared from its cover, staring at us. It was a majestic creature- its fur was a beautiful mix of black and a light orange. Its yellow eyes swept over our group, almost as if it was judging us silently. I tapped Tang's shoulder.

"What?"

"Look to the right. Check it out."

"What is - oh?"

"Pretty, right?"

The big cat stared at us more, cocking its head. Did it see us as predators, or prey?

"Yeah. Never seen one up so close. Look at that."

The others in the group noticed it too, all taking a look at it.

"Oh, that's gorgeous." Anastasia chipped in. "How old do you think it is?"

I looked at the cat, the animal growling at us.

"Should we shoot-"

"I got this." I looked at the jaguar again, entering its mind. No defense - obviously. But going into its mind felt alien in its own right. Up until now, I'd rarely gone into an animal mind, save for the mice and rats in my early days of training. But this was a whole 'nother world. It felt more developed than the rats, but at the same time, more primal, more wild, more…'natural', in a sense.

Born to be wild, huh?

The cat didn't know how to respond- I didn't even know if it felt me. I couldn't understand what it was thinking- it didn't have a spoken or written language. For all we knew, it was body language and growls.

So I tried something different.

I communicated a sense of calm, that we were no threat. That we, like it, were predators hunting prey. Which really wasn't a lie, in this context.

I left its mind, and stared at it. It cocked its head, whipped its tail, and turned around, disappearing into the jungle where it belonged.

Go hunt, buddy. Don't get yourself caught up in this.

I turned back to Tang, who probably had a look of shock that, unfortunately, was hidden by her helmet.

"Did you…"

I nodded, smiling. "Nature's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I...guess it did you tell it?"

"That we're predators, and that this is not a good place to hunt."

She chuckled. "Fair enough."

I heard the radio buzz.

"This is Elijah. All teams, check in."

"North team checking in."

'South team on the go."

"East team approaching the target."

"West team, ready to go."

Elijah's voice reverberated over the radio. "All teams are soon to be in place. Encircle them, but only engage when XCOM does."

We moved up a bit more, until Rafal told us to get down. Peeking around a tree I'd taken cover behind, I saw the base. True to intel's word, a chain-link fence surrounded the place, with a gate at the entrance.

"Dawn, anything?"

I reached out. "Ten...fifteen...eighteen people. Most armed. Some are eating, others talking. There are more, though. I can sense more, but I'm not sure if I can expand my reach that far."

"That's fine. Dawn, you've got the first shot. Go when ready."

"Okay." I found a group of guys with plasma rifles hanging out by the front gate, and a man on the roof of what I thought was some kind of mess hall hanging out with an RPG at his side.

As I prepared to engage, the feeling that I'd felt back when we recovered the psi-tech came back.

They're humans. You're fighting to protect Humans, remember?

I shook my head. But not these Humans. These people are bad.

Fuck. I shook my head, trying to ignore the thought. Just a-

"Dawn?" I hear Rafal's voice behind me.

"Sorry sir." Shaking my head again, I focused on the RPG-wielding man's mind.

Pick it up.

He did.

Aim at what I tell you.

He aimed, finger on the trigger. The ones by the gate were none the wiser.

Fire.

The rocket shot out of the tube and hit the gate, the resulting explosion ripping the gate off its hinges and shredding the guards.

"Everyone, attack!"

A hail of gunfire and explosions followed, as I took the head off of the RPG-wielding guard with a shot from my rifle. Our group moved through where the gate used to be, firing at will. I sensed the others at the edges of my mind, entering the compound with psionics or explosives and engaging. The whole place had gone from a secret hideout to a target-rich environment.

Kill 'em all.

I moved in, running past a pickup truck loaded with boxes. Several men came running out in armor, yelling in Spanish. With a thought, they all dropped dead, hitting the muddy ground with a thump.

Keep on going.

"This is the East Team! We've found the tunnels. Few sicarios in here, but shouldn't be much trouble! Collapsing them ASAP!"

I felt several muffled explosions below me, along with gunfire and several cries. Good. Didn't want anyone escaping. I moved past the mess into an open courtyard, littered with several dead bodies. Several resistance fighters were hunkering down behind an overturned, burning truck. As I moved in to help them, I noticed someone on the roof of another small building- a man with a large knife tattoo on his neck, might I add- hoisting up an RPG, aiming at us.

"Look out!" I shouted at them, as he fired. The rocket wooshed past me, slamming into a nearby building. The shockwave from the explosion knocked me off of my feet, sending me flying a meter or two. I hit the ground with a thud, almost getting sent headfirst into a wall. I staggered, getting up on my two legs and shaking my head, looking around. The fighters were okay, but the man who fired the rocket was gone.

"What was that?"

"RPG! Almost damned near hit me! I'm okay!"

"Alright. Outer area's clear, about twenty or so enemies dead. A few resistance fighters are injured, but everything's going according to plan. The airstrip isn't secured yet, but we're inside the compound."

"Roger that." I moved further in, crashing through a wooden door into what looked like a sleeping area. I caught several people with their pants down- putting on their armor haphazardly and rapidly chatting in Spanish. When they saw me, one reached for his gun, but I downed them all with a few bursts from my psi rifle. Since they were all wearing what looked like stolen Vitakarian armor, the weapon made short work of them - and even shorter work of those without.

The miniature dynamo blast from my gun ripped through the cloth and human skin, turning the somewhat clean room into a bloody mess. One woman's head was just gone, turned into red mist. Another guy's chest exploded, the heat from the psionic energy ironically cauterizing it. One tried to rush me, but I threw a quick punch.

When a genetically augmented fist, backed up by psionic shields and nanite-reinforced armor that made pre-war armored cars look like a paper bag hits unaugmented human skin and flesh, the results are...messy. The fist slammed into his lower jaw, annihilating it as the kinetic force drove it into his upper jaw, tearing through his head and killing him instantly. His dead body collapsed to the floow like dead weight (literally), leaving what was left of his head as a bloody, messy pulp.

"Oi, perra!"

I turned around, noticing I'd missed one in the fray. The last guy, with Runiararch armor hastily put on over his chest, held an AK-47. Yelling, he opened fire, spraying me with bullets. I stood there for a few seconds as the bullets harmlessly hit my psionic shields, flattending, and hitting the floor in a shower of metal. I stood there as he continued shooting. When the clip ran out, he stared at me, slack-jawed.

I promptly shot him in the head.

"Dawn!" Rafal yelled over the radio. "We've identified Eustacio! He's made his way to the airstrip, and attempting to escape!"

"Be there. On my way." I trudged out of the makeshift shelter, my armor stained with human blood. I looked like shit, all covered in red, dirt, and soot.

Looks like I'm going to have to do some cleaning when I get back.

I followed the markers on my HUD, following a dirt path past more bodies and scorch marks. Damn, we'd really done the job too well. I heard some shooting up ahead so I picked up my pace, not wanting to miss the party.

I saw a very small hangar, and ran inside to see Violet kill several gang members with a Tempest, annihilating them. "Where's the boss?"

She pointed to the runway. A small plane was slowly moving down the runway, its propeller spinning.

"Shit, he's gonna get away!"

I grinned under my helmet. "Oh, I don't think so."

I lifted a hand, glowing with psionic power, and aimed it towards the plane. I sensed the pilot's mind.

Gotta get the boss out of here.

I smiled.

Nope.

The pilot's mind was mine and with a thought, he began to turn the plane around slowly, not too fast, but fast enough to roll back to the hangar. It turned around on a 180 and slowly rolled towards us. I could make out Eustacio in the copilot's seat screaming bloody murder at the pilot, who gazed forward, obeying only me.

Look mom and dad! I'm driving a plane!

Violet snorted as the plane rolled to a stop in front of us, the propeller ceasing. Eustacio stopped screaming at the pilot, mouth gaping in a mix of shock and horror as he saw the two of us in front of the plane.

With a thought, the pilot died, and I marched over to the drug kingpin's side of the plane, ripping the door off, my helmet staring directly into his eyes, filled with terror.

"Say, that's a nice plane. Can I have it?"

With an armored hand, I gripped him by the leg and threw him out of the craft. I slammed him to the ground, his body hitting the concrete with a thud. I kneeled on one knee, wrapped a hand around his forehead, and entered his mind.

The memories flashed by as I made a mad telepathic dash through his mind. I gritted my teeth as I moved past the 'dirty' stuff- shootings, stabbing, killings. And drugs. Lots and lots of drugs. Not him doing any, mind you. Visiting labs and production centers, seeing them packed into disguised packages and boxes, shipped to anywhere he desired.

This guy was in deep.

But then I found something else.

A name. Two names.

Both with the same last name.

Eustacio and Nico Murillo.

I was staring into the mind of my wannabe killer's uncle.

A memory flashed by.

Visiting brother. Can't forget to say hi to nephew, too. Good kid.

Can tell he's gonna take his old man's place one day.

I breathed in and out, indulging my curiosity.

Let's go in.

The memory transitioned to the inside of what looked like a fancy house's dining room. Large glass windows lined the room, giving me a stunning view from 'my' perspective, sitting at a wood table, drinking beer out of a glass. A servant came up, placing a plate of food on the table. Across from me was a man in a dress shirt, pants, and shoes, a cigar hanging out of his mouth and a glass of beer in one hand.

"Eustacio. How's business?"

"Good. It's been really good. With all this alien shit going on, buyers are stocking up like it's nothing. You?"

Nico's father Ricardo shook his head. "Not good. Mexico seems keen on joining these ADVENT pukes."

'I' chuckled, taking a swing. "They seem serious. Look at what they did to our guys in America once they signed on. All of my contacts were nabbed or killed in less then a week."

He raised an eyebrow. "What? You mean all of them?"

'I' nodded. "Yep. That's why my guys and I are planning to jump ship. I'd suggest you come with me to South America. Not many down there seem keen on joining ADVENT anytime soon, and there's plenty of places to hide down there."

He took the cigar out of his mouth, standing up as he placed it on a small plate, looking outside the window. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, Eustacio. I really do. But I can't leave."

"You mean-"

"Uncle!"

'I' turned around, seeing him at the door to a living room, looking in.

But it wasn't the Nico I'd known.

This one...felt different. His eyes were more youthful, like mine. His face seemed much less ragged, and he seemed...well, happy. Gone was the foreboding armor, and instead was a pair or shorts and a t-shirt.

He was...normal once, like me.

Almost too much like me.

'I' extended my arms. "Nephew! I've missed you!"

We hugged, and I slipped a hand into my pocket, pulling out a 200-peso bill, giving it to him. He smiled when he accepted it.

"Thanks, Uncle! Damn, it's been months! Where've you been?"

'I' chuckled, shrugging. "Oh, you know. Business. Trying to one-up your old man here."

Nico chuckled. "And who's winning here? You or him?" He motioned towards his dad. "Dad's always talking about you, you know. 'Oh, Uncle Eustacio's doing this or that!"

I chuckled again. "You been slandering me, brother?"

Ricardo snorted. "In your dreams."

I turned back to Nico. "So, what's been going on. My brother keeping you busy?"

"You know it. I was just working on the car, actually."

"Oh, that old thing? I saw it in the garage. Surprised it still works."

Nico chuckled. "Well, mom knows a thing or two about cars. She's been teaching me, you know?"

I lifted an eyebrow. "Really now?"

"Yeah. It's fun. I-" He pulled out his phone. "Sorry, it's mom. Something's up with the engine. I gotta go."

I smiled. "It's alright. I won't be leaving anytime soon. Don't leave you mother hanging, eh? And tell her I said hi."

"You know it!"

He turned and walked out the door, leaving me and his father alone.

"Does he know yet?"

Ricardo smiled. "Of course he does. Money like this doesn't grow on trees, does it? He's shaping up to be a good successor."

I scoffed. "You really think so? Look at him. He couldn't hurt a fly. You think he's capable of doing the shit you've pulled off? That policeman's family in Guadalajara? That mayor in Morelia? No offense, Ricardo, but I don't think he can do what you and I've done."

"We'll see."

The memory flashed by, me leaving his mind as I released my grip, stepping back, hand around my psi-pistol. The man in front of me, still on the ground, frozen in terror, looked at me in shock.

"You-you-you-"

I looked at the pathetic excuse for a man cowering on the ground in front of me. He simply couldn't be allowed to live with what he'd done. The murders, the rapes, the killings. Millions terrorized, families torn apart by drugs and violence, children seeing their parents' bodies dead in the street- he was responsible. A mad tyrant who only saw such crimes as a statistic, basking in his own wealth and glory.

And his family had done the same.

A simple bullet wouldn't do the trick. No, no.

Monsters did not deserve a quick death.

I clenched a fist, focusing on his throat, picturing it in my mind.

"What are you doing, you gringo-urrk!"

Die slow, you fuck.

His throat constricted, its many structures bending and melting as his entire neck began to collapse onto itself. He started to choke, spitting blood that began dripping out of his mouth. He tried to reach out with hand, but I stepped on his arm, it snapping under my armored boot.

No mercy for you.

He writhed on the ground, me focusing on his throat as it began to collapse. Skin melted, blood vessels burst, his Adam's apple becoming slurry.

He was cartel scum who'd terrorized millions, trafficked drugs that ruined lives all over the world, snuffed out the lights of thousands, cursing those in their territory to live in fear of their sicario, their violence. He'd raped several women, butchered innocents with a machete by his own hand, bleeding them out like a stuck pig. Ordered families shot, people murdered.

I had nothing but contempt and rage for him. He and his 'family' were nothing but monsters, ruining entire countries in their quest for greed and wealth.

And they'd sired an even worse monster then they ever could have imagined.

His words had become gurgles, his free hand going limp as his neck visibly deflated, blood pouring out of his mouth, his body going limp and his mind fading into nothing.

He was dead.

The second-to-last Murillo was gone.

Only one left to go.

What was that line I heard back in church?

The sins of the father...are to be laid upon the children.

How fitting.

"Dawn?"

I turned around to see Elijah and the rest behind me. "What did you learn?"

"The cartel here...is dead. They're gone."

Elijah seemed to notice the shock in my voice, the hesitation, the worry. "Dawn. What happened?"

"I'll tell you back at base." I holstered the pistol. "What's the status with everyone else?"

"They're all dead." Violet interjected. "Gone for good. They're not going to hurt anyone anymore."

"Good. Did you find anything?"

"Yeah. We found some heavy plasma weapons buried in a little cellar under one of those compounds. A few shoulder-mounted plasma launchers, if you can believe that."

"Seriously?"

"Oh yeah. Looked like they were trying to jury-rig them onto some pickup trucks and the like. Glad we shut that down before they became a real pain in the ass for us."

"Good work, everyone." Elijah said. "Let's grab what we can and head out. The cartel's more than overstayed their welcome, and we don't want to, either."

As the group moved away to secure the area and whatever they could find, I took another look at the corpse on the runway, its busted head spilling blood over the gray concrete. I'd killed a monster in human form today. The Old World I once knew was slowly dying away, piece by piece, person by person. Eustacio was a fading relic of that time, when criminals had so much influence they, in some cases, were the de facto governments in some places, keeping what they called 'order' at the expense of others' lives and liberty.

So much had changed in a year, hadn't it?

Nico, whether he was doing...whatever the hell he did for the sake of revenge or bloodlust, was inadvertently continuing the cycle his family had continued. Killing and terrorizing for the sake of one's own gain, oppressing others for one's personal gain- he was becoming just like his family.

But much, much, worse.

I left the compound with more questions than answers.

Forty Minutes Later

The ride back to the outskirts, where Carina and Enrique's people would drop us off was uneventful, just a lot of sitting around and doing nothing while the trucks bounced along the uneven roads. No one really talked, and I opted to look at the forests and occasional buildings that we passed. I heard the occasion bird chirp and animal rustle through a bush. There was an odd sort of calm to it, contrary to the firefight we'd just had not thirty minutes ago. Funny how that worked.

The resistance had gotten their hands on a ton of loot- food, some medicine, and a lot of spare alien armor, guns, and ammo. They'd even gotten their hands on some RPGs and those plasma launchers the cartel had stolen from the aliens, as well as some gas and vehicles. We'd loaded the loot into the vehicles, and had driven our makeshift conoy away from the burning ruins of the cartel base.

Adios, amigos.

"Goddamn." I looked back at Violet, sitting on the bed of the truck. "That was great."

"Was it?"

"Fuck yeah it was! We wiped those guys out and stole all their shit!" She laughed. "If that isn't a victory, I don't know what is!"

"Victory indeed, Zoe."

"Hey, what'd you see in that guy's head? You seemed kinda freaked out back there."

"An explanation." I said. "The answer to what I was looking for."

"And what were you looking for?"

I gulped. "I...I don't really know."

"What do you mean?"

"It means that I went looking for answers, but now I have even more questions than answers."

"Well, that's a mindfuck." She opened one of the crates, pulling out an orange can. "Here. Ya thirsty?"

I looked at it. Orange soda. It has Spanish lettering on it, but I recognized the company. I smiled. "Hell yeah I am. Killing bad guys makes me thirsty." I took off my helmet and cracked it open, drinking it. "Ah, that's good."

"You got stuff like back at XCOM?"

"Oh yeah. You should see the food they make there. Makes my old cafeteria food look like nothing. They say you don't join the military for the food, but I think XCOM's the exception."

"Really selling XCOM, are you?" She took another drink. "Tempting."

"Something like that."

She pointed towards my gear. "How's that work? Psi-tech or something?"

"Yeah, something like that. It's called Aurora armor. Uses my psionic energy to make the shields you see- gives me more telepathic protection, too."

"And the gun does the same thing too?"

I nodded. "Yep! It shoots little Dynamo blasts, basically much smaller versions of what you do."

"Well color me jealous. And here I thought my plasma rifle was the best stuff available."

"Hey, I used my plasma rifle for my first month or so in XCOM. Had to manage my psionics before I could move on to psi weapons like the Annihilator Cannon."

"What's that?"

"Imagine a giant psionic cannon. It can take out a Herald in one hit."

Her eyes lit up. "No shit?"

"No shit."

"Now I'm really jealous. Got any other secrets in that suit?"

"Nope!"

"Well, now I really want to join if the equipment's that good."

"I shrugged. "We'll see."

Several Hours Later

Bee bottles clicked as we toasted one another, and cheered. We were throwing a small party- well, as close of one as this could get to, anyway, and why not? This was a major victory. We'd dismantled the cartels for good, killed one of, if not the last, remaining kingpin, and gotten a ton of supplies for the resistance. Elijah estimated the bounty from this attack alone could last months.

Not to mention the added firepower - all the weapons and armor the cartel had gotten from the aliens (via chocolate deal or theft) was the resistances' now, and you bet they were going to use them to raise hell.

But we didn't need to think about that right now. I certainly didn't, as I swung back my head and took another drink of the cheap beer Rodriguez had been keeping around. Did it taste like shit? Yeah. Was I going to pass down some beer and a party? Hell no. Besides, it wasn't like I was going to get drunk from this.

Zoe sat down next to me, her own bottle of beer in her hand. "Hell of a party, huh?"

"Yeah." I looked at the bottle, trying to read the Spanish inscription. "We do this sometime back home, too." I took another sip. "Jeez! What's in this stuff?"

"Jaguar piss."

I gave her a look.

"That's what the wording on the bottle says, dumbass! Jaguar's Piss. It's a local brand."

I raised an eyebrow, squinting at the letters. "Really?"

"Ha!" She burst out laughing, slapping her knee with her free hand! "You actually fell for it! You idiota! Ha ha ha ha!"

I rolled my eyes.

"Ha! I'm sorry, but that was-"

Fuck you too.

My eye briefly glowed a soft purple, projecting an image into her mind. She yelped, almost dropping her beer.

"Jodido cristo! ¿Qué diablos fue eso?"

I grinned. "Call it an acquired taste of one of my friends from the Priests. She has...interesting tastes in regards to aliens. Especially Ethereals."

"Was that Aegis-"

"'Nuff said, Zoe." I chuckled. "Call it payback."

She shook her head. "Alright, you got me good." She raised up her hands in a mock surrender. "That was actually pretty good." Someone called her over from another table. "I gotta go. Later!"

"Later."

I got up, looking around for someone to talk to. I moved out of the room to see our resident Dath'Haram, one hand handcuffed to a table, drinking a cup of water. She looked up, noticing me.

"Oh. It's you."

"They let you out?"

She shrugged. "Partially." She indicated the handcuff. "Something about killing criminals?"

"Something like that." She sighed. "While I wish there was another solution to this…" She shrugged. "Well, from what I have heard from them, these 'cartels' are not worthy of living."

"Yeah, I know you Dath'Haram aren't big on killing."

"Unless it is hunting. I myself killed several animals on my Hunter's Rite of Passage."

"That;s how your people get food, yeah? They hunt it all?"

"How do you know about that?"

"There are Dath'Haram and other Vitakara in XCOM. I have a Borelian friend in particular who likes to talk trash about the other races."

She cocked her head. "Why would you talk about garbage and waste disposal? That sounds incredibly boring unless you work in that field."

"It's a saying. 'Talk trash' is a term we use when someone says negative things about someone's attributes, skill, or just in general. It's mostly used in online gaming."

"Oh. We have a lot of those, too."

"You do?"

"Yes. Substantially more than the other races. We can be more...thoughtful and patient about our actions and morals. I do not want to say 'enlightened', as we are not truly philosophers, but in comparison to the other races, we can be more peaceful and thoughtful...at least, I thought that made us strong. But now, I feel that my people are at an inherent disadvantage."

"Why?"

"You know we are a pacifistic people, correct?"

"Yep."

She sighed, shifting her legs. "I was taught that violence was a bad thing, and that sitting down to talk in a mediated environment with the person or people you disagreed with was the best option."

"And I'm guessing that's changed here?"

She nodded. "Dath'Haram, me, my family - we had no idea what's going on here. All of Vitakar is incredibly disconnected from what I've seen." She shivered. "I do not believe it would be a good idea to try to talk with one of those Bringer creatures."

"Well, that's true. I never really saw pacifism as a good idea myself. Violence and war sometimes is the only way. And no offense, but your military isn't really all that good." I paused, noticing her worried expression. "Are you afraid we're going to come after Vitakar itself?"

"Why wouldn't you? Our people have taken so many lives, and you cannot stay on your Earth forever. There Is deep hatred amongst humanity because of us, and…well, I have friends and family both here on Earth. I had a good friend who served in Florida, Hallian. I was captured shortly after that battle had ended. They want our blood, and I fear they will not discriminate between soldier and civilian."

"I'm...I'm sure your friend's all right. But not all humans are like that. If they were, AEGIS wouldn't exist?"

"The Elder?"

"The organization."

"Oh. Yes. I...I have heard about it. The one that works with and integrates aliens, yes?"

"Pretty much."

She looked around for a second. I could feel her nervousness.

"Could you do something for me?"

"What is it?"

"Is it possible for you to ask your commanding officer if, when your operations here are finished, I could possibly be taken back with you?"

"Why?"

"I wish to get out of here. I have heard AEGIS can treat aliens well, give them homes, that sort of a thing. That is true, yes?"

"Yeah. Some of my high school friends are with them."

"You went to a school where people were taking recreational drugs?"

I almost laughed. "No, it just means it's the final part of pre- adult education. Lower, middle, then high school."

"Oh." I think she was embarrassed. "I see. But, could you do that?"

I nodded. "I certainly will."

"Thank you...Dawn?"

"Yep."

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

"No problem."

I got up and walked away, deciding to go outside and sit on the loading bay, looking up at the stars as I took another drink.

Pretty sight. No light pollution, so there's more stars I can see.

Not a bad view at all.

It was peaceful - insects making noise, the distant voices of the party, and the occasional animal. No fighting. No bombs, no gunfire, no grenades, no death - just quiet. Hell, even though the Praesidium had its own version of 'quiet', it didn't compare to this.

Nature at its finest.

I seized the moment to snap a few pictures with my helmet camera to send back later. It was a neat little thing- you do all sorts of things with (non-classified, of course) pictures in XCOM's cloud network, but my favorite was taking them and turning them into postcards for my family to see. I couldn't wait for my parents' reaction to the close encounter I had with the jaguar.

I could only imagine what I would've written on it.

Postcards from XCOM! Dear Mom, Dad, and Grace. Today was super fun! I wiped the floor with cartel scum and made more friends! I also drank some beer and did some sick interrogations straight out of a noir thriller! Love ya!

Heh.

I knew things were coming to a head soon. I couldn't stay out here in the ild forever. I had to go back eventually. I'd been gone for over two months. A few more weeks here and it's be three.

I missed talking to Mary. I missed talking with my parents. I missed talking to my friends. I missed mentally drifting with Caelior. I missed Aegis' lesson. I missed using the Dreamscape.

I missed...I missed Geist.

Never thought I'd be saying that.

But things were going to end here, sooner or later.

Sooner or later, I had to leave.

And as much as I wanted to, a small part of me didn't.

And for the life of me, I didn't know why.

To be continued in:

The Lions in Our Hearts