Mordenna had to admit, Bradford was kind of a blast when he got right down to it.

Here he was, leaning over the Hologlobe, grinning at a distinctly miffed Bradford, drumming his fingers and making the projection of the globe distort slightly. Debating with Bradford... wasn't as fun as the debates with Eliza he had done while she was still in the Elder's drunk tank, but it was still damn good.

Case in point! "So you're telling me that your only proof of time being more than just a construct is just what you've been told? You ain't ever gotten out a tool of your choice and actually tried to measure its passage on anything that isn't automated?"

Bradford gestured exasperatedly. "Sundials have got to count for that—"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Mordenna waggled his finger. "Sundials only measure the rotation of the Earth on its axis! Which would happen regardless of some arbitrary number ticking upwards. What's to say that we all aren't merely experiencing the sequence the universe has set in motion, but reverse? How does your little theory of time hold up then? Space exists, sure, but time's a boring concept you lot came up with just to tide yourselves over."

Bradford groaned, pressing a hand to his forehead. "Can't believe I'm debating with a purple beanpole over whether time exists... if time doesn't exist, then why do the Elders date their logs at all, huh?"

"Oh, please, don't use them as some kind of defense for your argument, John. It's practically bad form." He shook his head, still grinning. "They're idiots. Time, as a concept, may be uniform across civilizations, but it's fake! Much like organized calendars, you lot decided to fabricate a concept based on the rotation of your little planet around the Sun."

"If it's so fake then why do you refer to it?"

Mordenna shrugged. "Convenience, mostly."

"I'd argue that convenience is a damn good reason for it to exist."

"As a concept."

Right then, Eliza entered the Bridge. Bradford turned to her and pointed at Mordenna. "Eliza. Please tell the Hunter that time exists."

Well, that was quite the statement to walk in on. Eliza looked between the two of them and shortly began to laugh. Bradford kneaded his temples and Mordenna just grinned further. Eliza was a real card. That laugh certainly added to it... as much as it made him want to beat down his Id with a stick. Chill, me.

She recovered, left with a smile from her laughter. "Oh, what's your argument, Mordenna? 'Time doesn't truly exist and is merely a concept made by humans?'"

"Yes! See, Bradford, she understands."

"Doesn't mean she agrees," he grumbled.

Eliza put a hand on her hip. "So. What's the evidence for your theory?"

"Obvious. There's no quantifiable amount of 'time' that can be measured by any instrument anyone has crafted—"

"No. That's evidence against time existing. Where's the evidence for your alternative theory?"

Mordenna blinked. "Liz, the alternative theory is the lack of time's existence."

"Ok. Where's your proof? Where's your thesis? Where is your research document, thirty page minimum, twelve point font, preferably submitted and on my desk by Monday? All you've got for your argument is words. The evidence for time existing is there. It may not be a quantifiable amount, but not everything in the universe is. Can't quantify emotions, after all."

"Now that is just a filthy lie, Commander." He shook his head, preferring to latch onto the last part of her argument. "Emotions are merely measured chemical doses from the brain that tell us how we feel."

"Is that so?" She pointed at him firmly. "Are you trusting the chemical reactions in your brain to tell you that they are mere chemical reactions? Are you going to base your observations on something you cannot quantify without bias? Here I thought you were against time existing, Mordenna."

The Hunter straight up stopped. He almost felt as if his brain was hanging on a single command execution, something that had stopped up his whole system. When the haze broke, he burst out laughing, trying and failing to hold back a snort within it as he doubled over. Over his own laughter, he could hear Bradford and Eliza chuckling together.

He caught his breath and stood up from his mild hunch. "God, Commander, you are a riot. I'll give you that one because you made me laugh."

She held up her hands. "Happy to tango anytime, as always. Now." She stepped further up to the Hologlobe, tapping on her datapad. Soon, the display changed to a reasonable reconstruction of the Forge. "Onto what we're actually here about. As we speak, we are currently approaching our landing site so we may infiltrate the Forge. From there, we will be doing an on-grounds inspection and seeing if there's anything we need to leave with, like last time. All else fails, we destroy the compound and put the Elders back further on their progress."

"That's the long and short of it," Bradford replied, nodding. "As it stands, we just need to assemble the team together for it."

"Considering we're on the heels of Operation Last Coffin," Eliza changed the display to a roster, "we're effectively running with the B team."

"B team plus me," Mordenna was quick to add. "Never bothered to look at the Forge myself. Would you mind helping me address that?"

Eliza nodded, and an entry for him popped up on the list. "Noted. Do you think Fal-Mai is good for the mission?"

"After what happened? Yeah. She's angry and probably needs someone to take it out on." Not to mention how quietly furious Mordenna was. It wasn't so much that Cronus put a bomb on Jax... ok, maybe it was a little bit of that, but it was moreover just another shitty maneuver that told him how shit the Elders continued to be. A message that clearly stated that if Cronus couldn't have Jax? No one could. God forbid he think of alternative methods. If he hadn't spotted the make of the connector in time...

"Understood. I'll pencil her in." Eliza's voice interrupted his thoughts and he focused back on the conversation. Fal-Mai appeared on the registry. "I made sure to do my usual scouting around the troops and Mary was ready to go, so she'll be our support."

"Gonna be some heavy firepower there," Mordenna muttered, mostly to himself. "The Forge is pretty important, though I can't say I remember why." He was penning the Network Severance Effect as soon as he could grab Tygan's ear about it. He did remember a few details about the Avatar project, but... best spared for another time, and not right at the moment.

Bradford looked up at him. "SYN's back online..."

Getting the message, Eliza nodded. "And I know Rosa can always take more time with him." The two of them joined the list, leaving one slot empty. She looked between the two of them. "Close range and scouting, long range, heavy support, SPARK, and medic. Usually I'd pen a PsiOp in here but Clint's only freshly awake and Leo..."

Bradford grimly nodded. Mordenna knew what Eliza was on about—taking a direct hit from the Disruption Rifle was never pretty for a psion. Last he'd heard, Leo was still experiencing psionic "soreness." Mordenna darkly considered he might've done too well of a job, there. Though, something occurred to him and he spoke up. "Far be it from me to suggest something useful, but I'd say set Maria on him. If he's still out after this long, either I did a bang-up job or it's not going to heal naturally. Jax's Archbishop is an expert at healing through her own psionics. Given she was designed for my brother, I don't think it's a stretch to say it extends to other psionics."

Eliza looked fairly impressed, which gave Mordenna some satisfaction. "Good to know, Mordenna. I'll talk with her over it."

"Good advice," Bradford said, looking at the empty slot on the list, "but sadly it doesn't fix our current problem."

"Right." Eliza looked there, too. "Think we should split up the Twins for this?"

"Actually, I don't think you have to do that at all."

Though Mordenna spotted her coming, he didn't blame Bradford and Eliza for being surprised when Wiki zipped into their plane of existence. She'd recently gotten a paint job—what was orange before was now a mix of blues, even having adjusted the formerly red glow of her "brain" to a sky blue. She took her place at the side of the Hologlobe nobody was occupying. "Sorry to barge in, but I overheard and I couldn't help myself."

"Good to see you, Wiki." Eliza inclined her head towards her. "How's the integration with the Shadow Chamber?"

"Smooth as ever. I already gave her props, but your Chief Engineer can certainly make some user-friendly design."

"Oh, what," Mordenna interjected, "you didn't like the hostile code of the ADVENT Network?"

Wiki's eye-lights rolled. "Please. We've been over this." She gestured back to Eliza, resuming the topic. "I've began aggregating all the old world knowledge I can, as we agreed, as well as safely defragmenting one of my downed Codex buddies regarding what she knows. I've also added my own processing power to your systems, so everything should be running faster."

Bradford nodded. "I noticed that. Things are running a bit smoother thanks to you."

"Naturally. But, yes, I'm here for a reason." Wiki pointed to the last spot on the list, the projection glitching a bit at the action. "I'd like to fill up that last slot. Lest you forget, I'm good for battle, and I've been meaning to fill in some blank entries in my databanks. The Forge is one of them—I, sadly, couldn't grab everything in my exodus. Just most of it."

"The intel's been grand, Wiki," Eliza replied, "and I'm thankful for it. As for you coming on the mission? Absolutely." With a final tap, the mission roster was filled out. "That's it. Now to rally the troops and get everything together."

"Mordenna versus the Elders, round four," he mumbled. "Who wins? Who dies? Find out after the break."

Bradford shook his head. "This is gonna be another long one..."


The more Mordenna moved with squads, the more he could see the potential appeal in them.

Safety in numbers, for one. He was guaranteed more firepower than he could possibly carry by himself by just having a few more bodies around that could lug and fire it. A more cynical side of him—which was a fair portion of him, but lesser than before—wanted to say they were pretty effective decoys. A less cynical, more pragmatic part spoke of them being worthwhile distractions—loud, noisy, dangerous distractions while the real threat in the back lined up another shot.

Though, of course, he still knew the downsides. Most people couldn't sneak. To him, his whole squad, sans his sister, stuck out like a sore thumb against the slightly-brown backdrop of the dying grass and foliage. Wiki, being the shining beacon she was, definitely didn't help either. Granted, she was sticking in another dimension for now, but it was the principle of the matter. At least SYN had gotten some upgrades, courtesy of him—all of his clunking around was now heavily muted in the distortion field. That was thanks to some cues he took from Fal-Mai's cloak and how it worked.

Speaking of her, she was farther ahead. Mordenna's keen sight picked her out in the depot that capped off their long walk. Still advancing, he watched as a distant shimmer eclipsed a lone Trooper, the air itself seeming to swallow him. He reappeared behind a building and out of sight, throat slit. For as much grief as he gave his sister, Fal-Mai was skilled. A shame that such executions were limited by sightlines and the enemy being unaware, but eh.

The lone patrols steadily dropped as the squad kept moving forward, leaving the checkpoint empty. The lack of trees meant that the buildings themselves were the only shelter from the crisp, vaguely autumn air. This side of the globe, at least. Mordenna could see seasons being difficult to track thanks to the flight range of the Avenger. He was thankful he knew the date, at least. It made Eliza's rather late attention to the Forge interesting—but judging by the tech on the Avenger, it wasn't like they were doing nothing but dashing for him and his siblings.

Breaking out of his thoughts and the tangent they went on, Mordenna cast his gaze further outwards. The checkpoint led into two, thin bridges crossing a ravine, with the Forge Facility just across the way. Right before that was...

Mordenna pressed a finger to his ear. "Commander, the Assassin's cleared out a large portion of the patrols. All that's left is the Andromedon and the Sectopod... and far be it from me to throw out baseless guesses, but I think the former's starting to realize this place is a lot more empty than it was."

"Loud and clear. Proceed with caution, and you've got my endorsement to engage."

As he nodded, Mordenna took up his post, pulling out his sniper rifle and settling it in his hands. In front of him, he watched the squad take position—Rosa behind SYN, Mary to their side, Wiki on top of one of the buildings, and Fal-Mai presumably well-positioned, somewhere. "Menace One-Five, I am a cobra poised to leap off a cliff over here. I'm firing on that Sectopod—I know those things top to bottom and I guarantee I'm toppling it over."

"Got it," Rosa said into comms, voice low, "SYN and I will focus on the Andromedon, then. Mary, stand by to help as you can. Wiki... help however. Assassin, cleanup duty."

The silent agreement among the squad was what she got back as everyone got prepared. Gazing through the scope of his rifle, it was quick to highlight potential structural weak points on the Sectopod. He'd have to make this shot count—he didn't doubt its ability to lock onto him even from this distance. Adjusting a bolt on the side of his gun, the scope's display confirmed he had swapped over to AP rounds. Mordenna breathed in, steadying himself. "Firing in three... two... now."

He squeezed the trigger on his Darklance, and his eyes were locked on the destination of his bullet. The round shredded through the air and hit home, completely destroying one of the leg joints of the Sectopod. With a heavy weight behind it, it crashed down—and its leg fell onto the Andromedon, pinning it prone. "Right on the mark," he hissed, the satisfaction of having pulled that off in front of a squad a bit more than the usual spark.

The squad fired in turn, the twin barrage of Rosa and SYN cracking open the safe chamber of the Andromedon and swiftly killing the rider. The top of the Sectopod's chassis popped open, revealing its blaster. Mordenna lined up to split that thing from barrel to receiver, but was pleasantly surprised when he didn't have to. Wiki was quick to zip from one spot in reality to the next, appearing on top of the Sectopod and plunging a hand in it. With a shuddering whine, the cannon slipped back in, and the Sectopod shut down.

A shot out of Mary's rifle left the Sectopod the only threat to deal with. "Move it, sparky!" Mordenna barked. Wiki was fast to comply, winking out of normal sight and reappearing behind one of the buildings. With his eyes trained on it, Mordenna let another shot rip out of the barrel of his gun, blasting a hole straight through the main body of the war machine. Its systems overloaded and with a deafening bang, it was no more.

Letting the breath go, he lowered his weapon... just in time to see a shimmer of psionics. His sister's cloak dropped and made it clear that she was clutching her head. Feeling some sort of bad twinge, Mordenna rubbed the back of his neck. "... sorry, Fals." It wasn't that he hadn't figured the explosion would hurt her—he wasn't a Hunter for nothing—it was more to the point that it... Felt bad to see? You really aren't a Hunter anymore.

Fal-Mai shook her head. "It was a necessary action—I would not have you hold off on dispatching an enemy just because the process of doing so disturbs me."

"Still," he protested, "Gatekeepers, Sectopods, unruly Reapers, there is a lot of noise that XCOM brings. Seems hardly fair you're getting the short end of the stick because Helena didn't know how to safely design worth shit."

Fal-Mai was quiet at that, and Mordenna internally cursed. He'd meant to lead up to something good, but... The 'bad parent' card is never a good one to pull, you idiot. You think you'd know this by now. Just get on with it. "My point being, I think it's high time we fixed that. Lily? You listening in?"

"Sure am, Mordenna."

"Headpiece that dampens noise above a certain decibel level. I bet my left eye that we can pull that off, yeah?"

"It's certainly possible, and definitely something I've been meaning to look into." Mordenna could figure that line of thought came around for her ever since Fal-Mai's Ascension Facility. "Yeah. You just need to make it out of here in one piece."

"Don't go betting on racehorses when you're not at the track," he shot back. "Anyway, sound good, Fals?"

She nodded. "I appreciate the gesture. For now—"

"—We've got other stuff to do," Rosa followed up. "The whole goddamn facility likely heard that Sectopod explode. Our cover's blown."

With that, Rosa and SYN began their advance. Not one to be left behind, Mordenna abandoned his perch and traded it for one of the buildings Wiki was perched on. "'Sup, sparky. Pretty intense hack you did there."

Wiki stayed where she was at, trying to keep behind a railing. "Largely off the cuff, too, but I had some gleaning that I could do it beforehand. Get curious enough to look up how Sectopods work and all the hostile code in the world doesn't matter so much when you've memorized just how those things function."

"Codices and their eidetic memories," he half-grumbled. "I'm gonna have to ransom that info out of you sometime."

"Ransom?" She gave a digital scoff. "Are you implying I wouldn't hand it over as part of our new working relationship?"

"Are you?"

Wiki stared at him a bit. Then, she turned her attention forwards. "—I'll get back to you on that."

Oh, Codices. Mordenna snickered, pinning his eyes forward. The facility in front of him was all white—a notable deviation from ADVENT's mostly-gray fare. An ADVENT logo was branded on either side of the entrance door; more notably, they were the Avatar Project type. A quiet sense of dread started to creep on Mordenna. Some dark part of his memories was calling to him, telling him that there was something dreadful just beyond that door. Well, you're here now. Gonna be hard to tell everyone to turn back, even if you wanted to.

Rolling his shoulders, Mordenna readied himself, eyes on the front door. The squad was advancing steadily, splitting into two as they crossed the bridge. Wiki peered over the railing, and Mordenna got the strong impression that she was squinting. "Strange. I'm absolutely sure there's a guard in the facility—they should've come charging out by now."

"Curious indeed, but won't matter so much when we encounter them. Just their choice on where they wanna die."

Still, Wiki kept her head up... which was honestly distracting Mordenna a little. Speaking of his squad (outside of his sister) being unable to be stealthy, how did she think she could hide with that constant black cloud off of the back of her head? Granted, she could warp into another dimension and render it largely moot to anyone without interdimensional vision, but he still found it absurd.

"Nice squad you've got here."

Mordenna's hand flew to the Darkclaw and he was turning around and firing off a shot behind him before he knew so much as what he was shooting at. His eyes caught up quickly—the Specter's shoulder dispersed in a cloud of nanites, and it backed up, raising its hands in a pacifying gesture as it reformed. "Hold on hold on, don't shoot."

Wiki caught up quickly and had her gun levelled at the intruder. "Give me one good reason, you. You meddler."

The Specter's head swiveled to Wiki. "Ah, yes. You. The defected Codex of legend. Figured the lone Codex batting for XCOM's side and flying their colors like that had to be you."

"That is not a good reason," she hissed.

They shook their head. "Apologies. My one good reason is the same as yours, Wiki. I'm tired of fighting for ADVENT. You know exactly why me and my ilk were brought in."

Ever so slightly lowering the Darkclaw, Mordenna squinted. "—One of the Ethereals outside of the Trio brought you guys in to spite my old man making the Codices, right?"

"Precisely... well, largely. Twin Ethereals, but otherwise the story's correct." They gestured to Wiki. "Probably why Wiki here is still visibly agitated at me."

"While I can't exactly lie and say that's not the reason, it's not my only reason." Her gun remained raised, but she took her finger off the trigger. "More importantly you just showed up behind the both of us!"

"Mordenna, Wiki, what's going on up there?" That was Mary over the channel.

Shaking his head, Mordenna lowered his gun completely. "—got spooked by a Specter. Still negotiating, but I think we might have another turncoat."

"Upgrade that 'might' to a 'definitely,'" they corrected. "I am, as you might be, tired of being a product of spite. Tired of running around under ADVENT's quite terrible administration, and wanting to lash out at the Elders like many others."

Mordenna eyed them up. "And why should we trust you?"

The Specter pointed towards the Forge. "Technically, I'm the leader of a squad in that building. I told them to stay behind while I 'sabotaged their SPARK.' Two Troopers, a Shieldbearer, and a Viper. If it helps, I'd be fully willing to let your Codex here sever me from the Network herself—and check back through my order logs if she thinks this is some sort of trick."

Wiki finally lowered her gun completely, pinning it to her hip and standing up. "If I find out you've been lying to us in any capacity, I'm having Mordenna here fire on the core keeping you together."

"Right side of your hip," Mordenna confirmed. Just for a second, he could swear he saw the Specter tense. Specters could move their core around, but Mordenna's eyes were good enough to pick out where it was.

If they betrayed any emotion, it passed quickly. "All the more reason for me to not be duplicitous. Now, make it quick. Sooner or later they're going to get curious why I've been out so long."

Stepping forward, Wiki plunged her hand into their chest as she had the Sectopod. The green lines running down their form flickered and the Specter stood stock-still for a few moments. After a while of silence, Wiki pulled back, and the Specter animated again. "—They weren't lying. Free of the Network now, too."

"Excellent!" Mordenna holstered his Darkclaw and clapped his hands together. "Does this please the Great Commandy One?"

He got a chuckle over comms for his troubles. "Absolutely," Eliza replied. "Though, I can't help but notice our new ally hasn't presented us with a name."

"ADVENT was never fond of giving us names—"

"Schrödinger." Mordenna interrupted them with. "And I pray to god you know why, you obfuscating science horror."

The Specter laughed in turn. "Schrödinger it is. 'Schro' might make for a better nickname for short."

"Lovely," Rosa replied. "Can we go, now?"

Mordenna watched as Schrödinger's green lines shifted to an XCOM blue. "I'm ready to go if we all are. Revenge and whatnot, yes?"

"As always." Mordenna collected his sniper rifle—propped up against the railing in his quick action—keeping his sights on the building. "Now that you've been severed—"

The front door opened. Mordenna fired. One less Viper. "—they're gonna come crawling out of the woodwork! Look at that."

The squad on the ground made it across the bridge as the Viper went down. Through one of the windows, Mordenna himself spotted one of the Troopers. So, too, did SYN, and the Trooper got some plasma in his shoulder for his troubles. Pulling the bolt on his weapon back to reload, he adjusted it again. Bloodletting rounds. His favorite. Made a hell of a trail and left wounds that were hell to fix up. If the target survived the encounter, of course.

Schrödinger advanced, disassembling and buzzing forwards. Once they got closer and into some good cover, they reformed, peeking out of it. "—It's likely one of them's radioed for backup. I'd highly advise clearing through them all quickly and making your way inside. I probably don't have to tell you this, but you'll want to see what's in there."

"It's why we're here, after all," Wiki replied. "Not here for just the exercise."

"Never meant to imply it."

Disregarding the banter for a second, Mordenna kept his eye on the second window. Any second now. Was only logical that someone would either dash past or poke their head out. They probably knew he was here by now—but that Commander proxy leading the lot of them likely didn't know how to move against him.

A flash of white. A trigger squeeze. Definitely not, if that dead Shieldbearer was any indication.

It was down to two Troopers at this point. "I reckon you can blaze in there," Mordenna offered. "Not like two Troopers will do anything to SYN's armor." SYN was a tank. Though he knew his sister's sword could slice through it regardless, he'd taken the time to firm it up.

SYN took the suggestion, and his chassis lit up blue as he ignored the door and smashed his way into the facility. Mordenna could hear they dying cry of one of the soldiers as SYN opened fire. Rosa sprinted after him, and after purposefully crashing into his back, unloaded to his other side. After a moment, she spoke. "Area clear, and... you're going to want to see this, guys."

"Ominous!" Mordenna returned the Darklance to his back and jumped down. "I love it. Marching in right behind you."

"That should be the last of the resistance for now," Schrödinger confirmed. "Until the reinforcements come in. Probably best we get a move on."

Not like Mordenna needed to be told twice. With his usual strides, he advanced towards the facility, walking across the bridge but keeping his vision wide. Just because Schrödinger said that should be the last of them didn't mean it was. It wasn't as if he didn't trust their new recruit—well, maybe that was a bit of it—but better safe than sorry. He ducked through the hole that SYN made...

... and a few lost memories came screaming back to him.

The inside of the facility was a stark contrast to the outside. Dark floors and walls, while well-illuminated, lent the inside an air of being covered in shadow. Upright tanks on the far wall lay just beyond some workstations with dark monitors. The tanks themselves bore the standard ADVENT logo. Guard still up, he talked in comms. "Eliza. You seeing this?"

"Somewhat unfortunately," was the stilted reply he got back. It hit him just then that, well, Eliza was trapped in one of those for twenty years. Probably wasn't the most comforting sight to see three of them here. Yet, something in his gut spoke of something far more terrible beyond.

Bradford seemed to step in for her. "Are those... cloning pods?"

"Most likely so." Tygan was next to come in. "The DNA sequence and vial we acquired from the Blacksite are likely being used to clone soldiers in this very facility." That theory had some weight, if the clear floor tiles to the far sides of the room revealing an underground part of the facility were to be believed. The structure went for a long way down, and even as they spoke, some smaller parts beneath were active and moving.

"—That vial was going for a very specific sequence of DNA, doctor," Lily added. "Something tells me it wasn't just for the regular troops..."

"'Keep looking' is the message here," Mordenna summed up, walking further in with intent. "Sis? Anything around we should be aware of?"

"There are no further guards," was the reply. "The outside is empty. I will be returning inside shortly."

Mordenna rounded a corner and walked under an archway, unintentionally leading the squad. A thousand thoughts were brewing in his head as his brain was wracking his memory, trying to see if it could find out what way beyond the double doors he came upon and how it linked to what else he knew of the Avatar Project. Lily was right. The Elders needed a very specific sequence of DNA for themselves. But... why? He knew they were dying. He knew that they needed another option. If he had any darkened memories regarding the subject, they weren't saying anything. The only solution would be to advance and "wake them up."

With a quick tap, the room beyond the doors was revealed. Once again, his eyes had to adjust to the sudden change in color. The room was almost stark white, with gray sections on the floor. Stairs led up to the main platform in the middle of the area. Machinery was present in nearly every corner of the room, and given the time, Mordenna could discern the purpose of all of it. No, his attention was drawn to the center of the room—where an upright tank stood, with the Avatar logo on the front.

Finally, files he had remembered accessing came back to him. This Forge... was home to the prototype Avatar. The Elders had been trying for years to make a body that they could inhabit that would be able to withstand their psionics. Humans were the last key to the puzzle. If there was an intact Avatar in there...

It took a minute, but Mordenna realized that he and everyone else that had entered the room had stopped in their tracks. Even Fal-Mai was on the far side, having entered through the other door, staring at the tank. The two of them locked eyes, and Mordenna drifted forwards like he was walking in a dream. There was a lever on the side of the tube—the Stasis Tube, he remembered—which he reached out and pulled. Klaxons blared, the front of the container parted... and revealed the body within.

Save being colored white instead of orange, the suit the body was in was nearly an exact match of the one the Commander inhabited. In his ear, he could hear Eliza's strangled gasp, sending a knife into his gut. As the body slumped forward, unsupported, he was quick to reach out and catch it.

"That's—"

Bradford could only get so much out before Mordenna took over. "Goons and gals," he forced out, "this just became an extraction mission. I want a hole in the wall to the back of the facility and I want it now. We're getting out of here."

"I've got Firebrand on approach. Keep that thing safe!"

Hoisting the Forge Body further over his shoulder, Mordenna took out his Darkclaw with his free hand. He could hear SYN break out into a sprint, and soon enough, there was a SPARK-sized hole in the back of the facility as well.

"Reinforcements are coming to the south!" Firebrand said. "I'm moving this bird as fast as she can go—you get to the exfil point and we can leg it out before they get here!"

Taking it to heart, the squad sprinted out of the new backdoor in the facility, Mordenna himself being the last as he kept a steady hold on the body. He didn't even want to think about the kind of state the Commander must've been in to make a sound like that having seen the suit the Forge Body was in. If anything, he supposed it was likely linked to her PTSD—you didn't exactly sit in something like that for so long and not develop some pretty strong feelings about it.

He could spot the Skyranger on approach as they scaled the outcroppings at the back of the facility. Looking back, an ADVENT dropship was farther in the distance. Mordenna had to give Firebrand credit—the model of the Skyranger was an old one. For her to outpace the newer dropships must've meant some serious flying on her part.

The Skyranger came in at a hover, and the back opened before it had even established a firm spot. As the cords came down, SYN rocketed up—with Rosa clinging to him, no less. Wiki and Schrödinger went by their own methods: teleportation and "flight" respectively. The rest of the squad took ahold of a cord and were drawn up into the Skyranger as it already started to fly out. Either Firebrand could see back there or she was taking a very confident gamble that they had all gotten to cords in time.

Didn't matter so much now that they were on the ship, he figured. Swinging in, Mordenna took his spot next to his sister, laying the Forge Body on the floor carefully once everyone was settled in. Firebrand came in over the ship's speakers. "Everyone in? I'd apologize for the hasty extraction, but by the sounds of it, you all needed to get the hell out of dodge."

"We're all in," Mordenna confirmed, "with package in tow. Get us the hell out of dodge."

"Alright. Central, this is Firebrand. All XCOM operatives secure and the package is safe. We're on our way home."


Why did she have to be so weak?

Here Eliza was, leaned against Bradford, walking down a little-used hall of the Avenger. She still had her head partially buried in his shoulder, confident that he was making sure they wouldn't run into any walls. It was quiet, save for the sounds of their footsteps and the gentle rush of her own breathing. Eliza prayed that they wouldn't encounter anyone else while she was like this. Nobody needed to see their Commander in this sort of state.

The minute she had seen those tubes in the front of the Forge Facility, Eliza had almost seized up—and she hated it. She knew why. But the fact that she could be paralyzed by something that really only amounted to a goddamn storage container wore away at her and made her frustrated at herself. That Forge Body certainly only made it worse. A suit. You're spooked by a suit. Eliza, what's wrong with you?

Eliza took in a shuddering breath, squeezing Bradford. In response, he stopped and pulled her closer. "Liz..."

"I—I'm fine," she eked out, lying through her teeth. She loved Bradford, but the fact that he had to coddle her like this sat wrong with her. She was the Commander of XCOM. She had never fought in any of the battles against the aliens herself. She shouldn't be like this.

"You are not," he retorted, though not unkindly. "Look... being cooped up for as long as you were, I'd get jumpy around anything that reminded me of that time, too. It's not like your reaction is irrational."

"But... in front of the whole Bridge." She weakly beat a fist against his shoulder. "I nearly broke down. God knows if you hadn't gotten me out of there, it would have been worse."

"Do you think that would've changed anyone wanting to fight for you, Liz?" He moved her head so she had to look right at him. His face was soft, even if his words were firm. "You've been through hell and back. Anyone thinking you'd come out the other side perfectly fine are the ones who need their attitudes checked. You're human. You aren't invincible."

"I'm not..." Her throat seized up on her, but she pressed on. "I'm not human. I-I can't be. Not after twenty years. Not after..." What Argus had done to me. Eliza herself didn't remember—but Mordenna's words did have to have some credit behind them...

He squeezed her into him, undeterred. "You're human where it matters, Eliza. You still have that care for everyone around you, and I don't think anything will change that. In a war like this... this world needs someone like you. One hundred percent human or not."

Hearing that, Eliza took a moment to just sink into Bradford, arms winding around him properly. As much as she had forgiven Mordenna... his words stuck with her. Chosen Siren. One day off. Changes still made. Could she even sing, now? So much potentially taken away from her, leaving her to pick up the pieces.

But, she wasn't immune to Bradford's hug, or his words. Perhaps her own worth could lie outside of that... it was just hard to accept, after everything else. She had so much repenting to do. It was only right, after the things she had done. Bradford knew all of it, and yet he stayed by her side. Eliza didn't think she could ever get around to telling her new soldiers what had happened... but Bradford was definitely enough.

A bit more of silence, and Eliza stood up properly, leaning her forehead against Bradford's. "—I'm sorry. I've got no way to justify myself."

"You don't need to," he replied softly. "You do enough for everyone here. You've got to rest sometimes, Eliza."

"There's just too much to be done in a day, Bradford. God knows people need the help, too..."

"And you do too." One of his hands sought out her shoulder and squeezed it. "Human or not, you need your breaks."

She lidded her eyes. Eliza just... couldn't. She shouldn't need the breaks. There were people who needed her, who relied on her. She had to be ready for them, no matter the hour. Still, she sighed and closed her eyes. "—you might have a point. Might. Just..." Her mind roamed back to the Forge Body. "... we've got places to be, Bradford."

"Liz. You don't have to enter the Lab."

"Have Tygan cover it. We... we need to discuss the ramifications of it with him in person."

After a long while, Bradford sighed in turn and let her go. "Alright. I'll tell him to put it away or whatever he can do with it. Don't feel like you have to stay, alright?"

"Alright." With that, Eliza stepped back from Bradford, carrying herself better than she did before. Making their way through the ship, the two of them eventually got to a hallway that connected to the Laboratory, arriving at the less-used door. Exchanging a silent glance, Eliza leaned against the wall while Bradford walked in, closing her eyes.

After a second or two, Bradford came back. "There's a sheet over it. Think that's enough?"

Eliza nodded, opening her eyes. "Should be. Let's get this over with."

Following Bradford, Eliza passed through the doorway and into the Lab. Over at the dissection table stood Tygan and Mordenna. Both of them were on either side of the table itself, where a white cloth was draped over presumably the Forge Body. A chill ran up her spine, knowing what lay underneath... but she could steel herself, and steel herself she did. Eliza walked with head held high, arriving at the table as Bradford did. "Tygan. Mordenna."

"Commander." Tygan inclined his head towards her. "Good to see you on your feet."

Eliza gave him a smile, knowing he meant well by his comment. "Glad, myself. What's in that suit?"

"An Avatar."

All eyes went to Mordenna. He was looking down at the sheet—no doubt seeing through it, with his gifted eyesight. His gaze flickered between all of them before he spoke again. "No doubt you lot have uncovered that the Elders have been, quite frankly, refining humans for some nebulous purpose. The gene clinics. Screening for just the right sequence—and whoever had it."

"Cut to the chase, Hunter," Bradford said, tense.

Mordenna tapped the sheet. "I'm also pretty sure you guys know the Elders are straight up dying. Muscle degeneracy and all. Their bodies are getting too weak to handle them, though if that's because of their use of psionics or simply a genetic disease, not even I know. The chase I'm cutting to here is that they're making new bodies. Bodies they can inhabit." He gestured to Tygan. "Tygan here knows that all ADVENT soldiers have gaps in their sequences, fit to have whatever alien DNA shoved in them at will. This body, this specific body, is different. Like Priests, it's got psionic sensitivity... but that's on its own. Not through Sectoid or Gatekeeper DNA sequence filling. The Elders manufactured a body that can withstand huge amounts of psionics... and even augment them."

The weight of what Mordenna just said settled on the room heavily. Bradford rubbed his mouth, Tygan went stiff, and Eliza found herself simply staring at him. From the way Mordenna spoke... it was as if he knew this all along. "Hunter. How long have you known this."

He looked to the Commander, and then swiftly away. "—Severance Effect, Eliza. I only knew when I saw the Stasis Tube. Then the memories came screaming back. I would have told you earlier if I had known."

Eliza's potential unease melted away quickly. God knows there had been a lot she had forgotten in her severance. She looked back to the body, other questions rising. "So what we've got here is essentially a puppet for an Elder."

"Not even that. A permanent body. Conscious upload presumably included." He looked back to her now that her face wasn't as stern. "And this is just an alpha. Barely a prototype. You lot have been busy mucking up the process, but even then, this thing is potentially useable. Not that I'm saying it should be used. God no. But the Elders sure as hell intend to."

Bradford dropped his hand. "Anything else we should know?"

"Just that they're going to be pissed you guys took this one." He gestured again. "And that there should be a total of about four, this one possibly excluded. Probably with the four Elders looking after Earth being the ones to get the test run."

"Cronus, Odin, Helena, and Argus," Eliza listed, spitting out the last name. "It's our job to make sure that never happens." She nodded towards Mordenna. "Thank you for your insight, Mordenna. Tygan? Update me if you find out anything more about it."

"Understood, Commander," he replied. "Mordenna? I believe I might have to borrow you for future research projects, if your knowledge is this extensive."

"Happy to oblige, doc." He spread out his arms. "I've killed everything that walks, flies, and crawls. I ought to update your autopsies."

"If that's all," Bradford said, with the definite air of "anyway," "we've got some pieces to pick up. Didn't Wiki say she had a location for us to check out based on the other Codex brains we've acquired?"

"She certainly did." Eliza straightened and nodded at them all. "I'll have to be going over those reports and getting back to her. Is there anything else for me?" When all she got was them shaking their heads, she continued. "Alright. Mordenna, Tygan, continue your work. Bradford, I'm off for Wiki."

"Good luck, Commander," Mordenna returned as she went to leave.