Fal-Mai had wondered what mission organization would be like at XCOM, when she first joined. With this meeting and the previous one, she supposed she knew now.
The Assassin was standing at the Hologlobe with Eliza, Jax, and Bradford in attendance, currently waiting on Mordenna to finally show up. These meetings were interesting—along with Eliza's continued insistence on inviting her and her brothers to them. Mordenna, she could understand—he was a tactician given knowledge and strategy from Eliza herself. Her and Jax, however? She didn't imagine she'd have much to impart, but she wasn't about to question Eliza's reasonings. Surely there was something more to it that Eliza was counting on that Fal-Mai simply didn't realize.
Whatever the case was, her train of thought was broken when she heard Jax's next reply in the conversation they'd been holding. "—and do you think there is, perhaps, any way that you can 'ransom' some of the havens out of textiles and the such?"
Eliza sighed, leaning on the table-like platform in the middle of all of them. "I'll see what I can do. Not that I'm hesitant to do so—more clothes for all of the soldiers and whatever else your tailors can come up with sounds like a great thing to invest in. Sadly, the havens are getting a bit... testy, nowadays. Apparently the 'rampant scores of aliens I'm picking up'—their quote, not mine—is concerning them a fair bit."
Bradford crossed his arms. "It's pretty easy for them to forget how much they rely on us for protection."
"I can understand the concern to an extent," Eliza continued, "but honestly? I've only heard two valid complaints about you guys," she said, nodding to Jax and Fal-Mai, "thus far. One was from Roland, the other from Volk. Both of them were about Mordenna."
Jax gave a soft chuckle. "Fitting."
Eliza rolled her eyes, but she was smiling as she did so. "But, back to the original point? I'll see if I can't talk some sense into them and score you some textiles. I mean, all else fails, there is the Black Market. And god knows the Baroness misses me."
Bradford gave a concerned "hm." "Probably best not to cosy up to the head of the Black Market too much, Eliza. She might start asking favors you can't fulfill."
"As far as I'm concerned, I'm already doing favors for her." Eliza gestured to Bradford. "We've basically cleared out our excess corpse stocks though her and half of our allotted intel is practically hers. Unlike the havens, I think she knows just what would happen if XCOM stopped supporting her. Not to mention, though I hate putting it this way, clearing out the Chosen."
"It is an accurate statement," Fal-Mai replied. "If we are too busy fighting for XCOM, we do not exactly possess the time to root out the Black Market."
"I had been shockingly close," Jax half-lamented, "to discovering their hiding place. A true shame I had to be kidnapped by XCOM and its dastardly Commander before then, hm?"
Eliza and Bradford chuckled, with Bradford shaking his head. "Never thought I'd live to see the day of you using humor, Jax."
As funny as the notion was indeed, that left Fal-Mai with a question. "Brother, I'd never heard Mordenna boast about finding the Black Market—if anything, he wished to see it continue. Out of the three of us, how did you come so close to finding it?"
"Simple, really." Jax gestured with an open palm, but there was a graveness, of sorts, to his face. "You would be surprised what humans utter at confessionals. My network of former Priests were starting to root out the Black Market by sheer force of guilt of those who patronized it. Gathering trends of the areas of confession, along with details from some of the more harrowed parties, I was slowly working out where it lay without ever stepping foot near it."
Eliza raised her eyebrows. "—starting to be glad that Christianity was never my thing."
"Easy for you to say," Bradford replied. "This is just giving me bad feelings about my own time in church."
"'Guilt' is a strong agent of truth," Fal-Mai observed. "Knowing your methods now, I am no longer surprised you had nearly sussed out its location."
"Still, all things aside," Eliza said, "maybe it's time to visit the Black Market soon. Perhaps I could bring you guys along to show her the rumors are true, yeah?"
Jax shrugged. "I see no objections of mine, so long as they do not endeavor to shoot me and my siblings upon sight. If anything, I would like to meet the woman who is to be the supplier to my Mystics, just in case any complications arise."
Eliza nodded. "The Baroness is usually pretty good at getting XCOM quality materials."
"As for myself..." Fal-Mai threaded her fingers together in front of her. "Though I see no personal business of mine to be had with this 'Baroness,' I will attend as a bodyguard, if your intent is to see her in person."
"Usually do." Eliza sighed. "Mostly because she's one of the few people that I do maintain direct contact with because I'm pretty sure she's holding my likeness to implicit ransom. Surprisingly, the larger world doesn't know what I look like or even that I'm a woman. The word 'Commander' tends to inspire a grizzled, world-weary man into the minds of most."
Jax grinned. "So I assume Bradford is your acting 'Commander?'"
"Hey," Bradford protested, "it's a legitimate tactic."
Eliza laughed. "Yeah, pretty much."
Fal-Mai was sure the conversation would've continued had one of the doors to the Bridge not opened to reveal Mordenna, who came in with arms spread out in a grand gesture. "Oh, much like the Siberian winter descending upon the Nazis, I am an inevitability that idiots choose to ignore! How's everyone doing in this ship tonight?"
Jax scoffed. "We were having a lovely conversation, but I see now that will no longer be the case."
Mordenna pointed a finger at Jax as he took the last unoccupied spot at the meeting. "You love me and you know it. Now! Before we begin, I have a progress update on Wiki. Turns out, yeah, she pretty much just burnt herself out pulling that intense of a teleport. The Shadow Chamber was able to find her own blueprint in her brain—a nice contingency plan, but I'd faster credit Wiki than my bastard of an old man for that—and the fix won't take long. After that, just need to power her back up and we'll have our favorite Codex back!"
"Good work, Mordenna," Bradford replied. "Glad to know we'll have one of our own back soon enough."
"Hey, defying death is my thing." Mordenna shrugged, carefree. "Until I figure out the secrets of immortality, I'll practice on robots."
"Fair enough." Eliza straightened, assuming a professional air. "If that's all you had to impart, I'd like to get on with the planning for this upcoming mission."
"That was it, Lizzie. Hit us."
Nodding, Eliza got her datapad off of her belt, manipulating the projected globe in front of them with it. "Our upcoming mission relates to an area of interest that the Skirmishers passed onto us. They have reports of missing scouts from that area, and we've recently started picking up a radio signal from it. As of earlier today, we've just gotten close enough to pick up the message whoever's there has been broadcasting. Playing the message... now."
Eliza tapped something on her pad, and soon, a voice started filtering from the Hologlobe. It was in English, but it sounded as if whoever was trying to speak it didn't have a fully human mouth. "To those fighting against ADVENT, we have a message. We are four rulers of the planets the Elders have conquered and taken our people to wage a war on Earth. We intend to strike back at those who stole our very lives from us, and we would be welcome to any help that is offered. The Elders and ADVENT will be made to pay for their crimes, and we can accomplish this goal together. Repeating this message. To those—"
The message went silent, and Eliza looked back up at them. "We got precise coordinates from the broadcast, but whatever equipment they're using, Shen says it's horribly out of date, and is likely attracting attention. There's a good chance ADVENT is planning to move on them as we are."
"Four rulers, eh?" Mordenna rubbed his chin. "Siblings of mine, you wouldn't happen to remember the outstanding kill orders for 'Alien Rulers' on the Network, would you?"
"I would," Jax replied, "We were meant to hunt them down when given the chance."
"Yeah, well, we all know how lazy I am when I comes to orders from the Elders." Mordenna tilted his head. "Still, though, I'll give some credit to that woman. For being a middle-aged, scientist, Vahlen sure managed to—"
Bradford and Eliza's reactions were instant and noticeable enough to make Mordenna stop up. Bradford looked like he'd had the wind knocked out of him, and Eliza? There was some hardened expression on Eliza's face, and she looked away, muttering something Fal-Mai was sure only she could catch. "Of course. Of course it had to be her who survived."
"Uh..." Mordenna cleared his throat. "You guys got some history with Vahlen I surprisingly don't know about, or?"
Bradford was the first to speak after her recovered. "... Vahlen was our head scientist at First Contact. She fulfilled the role Tygan does now. She... also carried out the interrogations we did at that time. Think I speak for Eliza and I here when I say she's half the reason why we don't do them anymore."
Eliza sighed, massaging her forehead. "She's also a living monument to everything I'd done wrong at First Contact. If I never see her again, it'll be too soon."
"Yikes." Mordenna rubbed the back of his neck. "She's not exactly someone you're clamoring to recruit again, is what I'm getting out of this. Well, for what it's worth, she was the one who stole the Alien Rulers from ADVENT custody. Though, what she did from there, nobody knows. If the aliens are still alive and are now rallying a rebellion, who knows? Maybe she had a change of heart."
Eliza didn't look too encouraged at that, but her expression softened. "Well, I suppose if I'm willing to forgive you guys for what you've done... who knows? Maybe Vahlen was in the same situation I was. But..." She squinted at the Hologlobe. "If that was the case, wouldn't it be her putting out that broadcast? I've never heard that voice before, if it isn't clear."
Jax, similarly, looked into the Hologlobe. "Perhaps she was anticipating your exact reaction and hoping to bring you in before explaining her situation."
"Sounds likely." Bradford's arms fell to his sides. "So. We're gonna need a squad assembled out there."
"Well, if Vahlen's using the aliens as a front," Eliza said, bringing up the datapad again, "I might as well send you guys in there to show them just how accepting I am. You all good with that?" When Fal-Mai and her brothers nodded, a roster came up and their names appeared. "Great. I'll send Sammy as our diplomat—" Samhien's name then appeared, "—and... hm. What to do with our last slots?"
"Been a while since you sent SYN out there," Mordenna commented. "Can I see my handiwork in action? Pretty please?"
Giving a single chuckle, Eliza nodded. "Alright. And with SYN should probably come Rosa. Need our Grenadier, after all."
"Once I get that minigun made for you," Mordenna said, addressing Jax, "sending anybody but us three is gonna be even more redundant. Fit you up with a grenade launcher—well, actually, wouldn't you just be able to teleport the grenades in at their feet?"
"With some practice," he replied, "most likely. Teleporting allies around the battlefield is trivial for me. Teleporting small objects such as grenades is hardly worth mentioning."
"Oh you are gonna be a murder machine when I'm done with you. I'll make you a better version of a WAR Suit and I will make a weapon that will surpass all the fears of ADVENT."
"Boys," Eliza interrupted, smiling, "is there a potentially disastrous project I need to know about?"
"Simply the possible destruction of this ship and everyone on it," Fal-Mai muttered, hiding a content smile behind her hand as she looked to the side.
"Hey!" Mordenna jabbed a finger at her. "It's not that bad. God knows Lily would continuously smack me upside my head should I do something that dangerous. But, yeah. Commander? Jax. With a minigun."
Eliza shook her head. "That's practically a war crime. Don't the Geneva Conventions cover excessive use of force?"
Grinning, Mordenna wagged a finger at her. "Only if I'm using him to intimidate the sick or imprisoned!"
She sighed. "Hypothetical question. I know the Geneva Conventions—and I'm pretty sure you only know because I know."
"Imprinted knowledge is interesting, even if I didn't particularly ask for it."
"True enough." Dismissing the tangent, Eliza shook her head. "In any case, get yourselves mentally prepared. We'll be landing at the site in three hours. I'll call you all down for a final debriefing right before I deploy you, as always. Any questions?" When none were presented. Eliza nodded to all of them. "Alright. You are all dismissed."
When Mordenna immediately slid over to Jax and continued to go on about Jax's potential new arsenal and Bradford tapped Eliza's shoulder, starting to bring her to the side, Fal-Mai supposed she was on her own. She brought her cloak over herself and went to walk out of the room. She'd entertain herself for those three hours, and then? She would be ready to fight.
By the time the three hours were up and Fal-Mai got a message in her ear to head down to the Armory, she was in deep in Edgar's flock, with an untold amount of ravens around her and perched on her. The message practically shattered the gentle relaxation she'd lapsed into in the Commons, petting a few of the ravens after she'd been instructed how to handle them by the man herself.
Her expression must've been clear, as Edgar chuckled. "The voice of god come calling, Neylor?"
She blinked a few times. Edgar was strange and tended to use people's last names if he knew them. "—I suppose if the Commander summoning me would be such, then yes. I appreciate the time I was able to spend with you and yours."
"But of course!" Edgar whistled, and the practical omen of ravens lifted off and freed Fal-Mai, allowing her to stand.
Nevermore, currently sitting comfortably on Edgar's lap, regarded her. The blatant intelligence the mutated raven exhibited always caught her off guard. "I can tell they are just as happy to have you, Assassin. After they acclimated to your psionics, they were more than happy to have your attention."
"Sorry again about that," Edgar muttered. "They've... learned to associate strange psionics such as yours and the ones from ADVENT with danger. Takes them a bit to readjust, but you can't blame them, can you?"
Fal-Mai shook her head. "Considering their nature, it's only natural to avoid that which has heralded peril before. I am simply glad they learned I am not here to harm them."
Edgar nodded, idly scratching behind the plume on Nevermore's head. "And if you keep coming by, the idea will stick. Now. My court, what do we say?"
Either Edgar had trained them enough that this was a practiced response, or the ravens were more intelligent than she gave them credit for, but in either case they all croaked out a "thank you" in near unison. The spectacle made Fal-Mai smile. Edgar himself chuckled. "Courteous, aren't they? I won't keep you any longer—go on, and tell the Commander I said hello, alright?"
She nodded, and turned on her heel, walking out of the Commons. It was, indeed, nice to hang out with Eliza's soldiers. The ones that would have her, of course—Edgar was one of her first choices for that reason and because... well, she had a soft spot for the ravens. They were positively adorable, even if they were bigger than she'd thought they'd be.
Enough walking and she eventually got to the Armory, where the squad for the upcoming mission were gathering their weapons. The lights high up in the ceiling highlighted her and her brothers' new coat of paint on their armor—a washed-out blue, emblematic of XCOM's colors. Speaking of emblems, Mordenna had also gone to work sanding those off of their armor. She took to it readily. Jax... needed a little convincing, but eventually they managed.
In the middle of them all was Eliza, who nodded to Fal-Mai as she walked in, gathering her Arashi from its rack. When everyone was properly suited up, they came to stand in a line in front of the Commander, who cleared her throat before she spoke. "Menace One-Five, your mission today is one of diplomacy. We have it on good intel that there is possibly a new resistance faction, if not a new set of allies currently holed up at our destination. They describe themselves as 'four rulers of planets that ADVENT has conquered' from their radio broadcast." She then nodded to the Chosen. "I've heard that you lot have knowledge of them?"
Mordenna was the one to speak up. "My knowledge is patchy thanks to Severance Effect, but I do know that there was an Archon King and a Berserker Queen mentioned."
Fal-Mai nodded. She knew of those two, but she also remembered the third. "And a Viper King."
"Oh lord," Mordenna replied. "God knows they'll have Viper forces for days if that's the case."
"The final one," Jax added, "is one known as a 'Gourgeamus Queen,' of whose race has been not yet used in ADVENT's planet conquering, it seems."
"At least not for Earth yet," Eliza muttered. Gathering herself, she nodded. "Menace One-Five, you are to approach without weapons drawn and try to make contact with these Alien Rulers. The Avenger would make first contact, but their equipment is 'out of date' according to Shen."
"The radio they're using is like from 2010," Mordenna said, shaking his head. "How retro can you get?"
"Just one question, Commander." Rosa has spoken up. "If this is a diplomacy mission, why are you sending in enough force to clear out this cave?"
"Good question, and thank you for paying attention." Eliza clasped her hands in front of her. "Due to their equipment being outdated, there is a very likely chance that ADVENT has picked up on where they are. According to the Chosen, there is an outstanding kill order with their names on it, and ADVENT isn't one to pass up the chance to eliminate a growing threat. That's why we're rolling in with full force—and be sure to warn them of what they're doing when you can get a word in edgewise."
"Got it. Sorry for the stupid question."
"Certainly isn't stupid," Eliza countered, "if it's a valid question. If their signal were more masked, I might just be sending Samhien in."
Sammy was wearing his helmet, but Fal-Mai could swear she got the aura of him smiling. "I appreciate your confidence in my abilities, Commander."
"Wouldn't offer it if it wasn't very much earned. Now. Any more questions before you head out?"
"Just another," Mordenna said. "Since ADVENT's likely coming to kick their asses, we should probably let them know and relocate them, right?"
"Right. All else fails, I'm sure we've got enough room on the Avenger to temporarily house them." Eliza looked over the rest of the squad. "Will that be all?"
When that seemed to be it, she nodded. Considering themselves dismissed, Menace One-Five turned and moved for the Skyranger, loading up and preparing for the battle ahead.
The arid landscape that lead up to the land rising up in front of them very much reminded Fal-Mai of where her Stronghold was located.
As she did then, she left no footsteps as she scouted ahead of the group, in cloak and keeping her eyes and ears open. Even if this was a mission of diplomacy and they were to appear as they were, she would be sure there was nothing hazardous lying in wait for them.
While on approach, the squad were keeping their weapons holstered—no problem for her and her brothers, who tended to keep their hands free anyways out of force of habit. She imagined it would've also helped with traversing the landscape—if the ground didn't curiously slope downwards towards the cave that was starting to be visible in the distance. As it became visible, so too did the "decorations" in front of it. Mostly human skulls were impaled on pikes, with the occasional recognizable alien skull, mostly Sectoids, and there was even simply a Chryssalid head here or there. A warning sign, if nothing else, though judging by the way the footsteps of her comrades behind her continued, it was hardly a deterrence.
Fal-Mai bound-determined in her pace—that is, right up until she heard a noise to her right. She quickly whipped around to identify the source... and was a bit underwhelmed and fascinated to see the source. A Viper that couldn't have been longer than her leg was curled up in the shadow of one of the natural steps in the rock, clearly in pain. As she angled around, whispering "company halt" into her communicator as she looked for the source of its distress, she could see there was a few thorns in its underside. They were low enough that she guessed it was having an agonizing time moving and had stopped to rest before making the rest of the trip home.
"Whatcha seeing, Fal-Mai?"
That was Mordenna. She tilted her head to the side, still whispering. "An injured, baby Viper."
"Ah, a Neonate? What's the problem with it?"
"Thorns. I cannot tell if the source is animal or plant."
"Probably plant. Spotted some more thorny flora on the way here. What's your call?"
She focused back on the Neonate, who was looking mournfully at the distance it would have to travel to get back home. Considering they were on a mission of diplomacy, there was only one correct answer in her eyes. She crouched down, gently lowering her cloak so she would appear to fade in slowly. Looking back, the Neonate caught her and hissed, using its hands to scoot away with little success. She shook her head and raised her hands in a calming gesture, speaking softly. "It's alright, little one." Did it speak English? Did it understand English? She hoped her soft tone of voice would communicate her intent regardless. "I'm not here to harm you. I want to help you."
Whether it understood her or not, it stopped trying to back away, eyeing her suspiciously. It looked back to the mouth of the cave in the distance, then to her again. Its posture wilted from defiant to definitely scared and it pointed to the cave. Fal-Mai nodded, holding her hands out. "I will take you there, if you let me carry you."
It regarded her for a few more cautious moments before holding out its own arms. Fal-Mai carefully approached and picked it up, cradling it in her arms and being mindful of its injury. It was rather heavy, heavier than she'd take something of its size to be—mostly centered in the tail, which made sense. It wrapped its arms behind her neck and leaned against her, resting. She stood back up, nodded to her squad behind her, and resumed the walk towards the cave in full view. If they moved to strike her with one of their young in her arms... perhaps that stood to say they shouldn't open negotiations.
They managed to walk for quite a while, getting closer to the entrance to the cave than Fal-Mai would've expected when a voice barked out a "halt!" Fal-Mai did as she was told, and she could hear everyone behind her stop as well. From the landscape, figures appeared—Vipers with such varied colors that she wouldn't take them to be part of ADVENT's mass-production. Strangely enough, some of them lacked the... venom sacs she had known Vipers for, mostly the multi-colored ones. There were a few "normal" Vipers present in the welcoming party, but they were outnumbered by their fellows.
One, larger than the rest of them and tinged shades of iridescent green and blue like a scarab, spoke. "Let the Neonate go," she said.
Fal-Mai... didn't want to refuse with the Vipers currently holding scavenged plasma guns and what looked like prototype Boltcasters at her, but... "It is injured," she spoke, loud enough to be heard. "It cannot move without agony."
The Vipers looked suspicious until the tiny one in her arms nodded at them, and they slightly lowered their guns. The iridescent Viper slowly approached, keeping hers at half-rest until she was face-to-face with Fal-Mai. Face-to-face indeed—slightly raised on her tail, this Viper was long and large enough to meet her height. She holstered her gun, gently taking the Neonate from Fal-Mai's arms and looking over it. When she hissed something in a language Fal-Mai couldn't understand, it shook its head, and spoke back. She looked back to the Assassin. "You say you found him like this?"
Fal-Mai nodded. "He was curled up far back from here, with those thorns in his tail. I did not want to risk removing them without getting him back to his... family." "Family" was probably the correct word here. With a Viper King amongst their ranks and the existence of this young one, there was no doubt he was busy at work repopulating.
The Viper secured the Neonate closer, then signalled to the rest of her own to stand down. Looking back to Fal-Mai, she squinted. "No symbol and blue colors, Chosen? If I didn't know any better, I would say you were with XCOM."
"I am," she replied. "So are my brothers, and the Skirmisher with us. We intend to establish contact between your rulers and the Commander."
She took a moment to look over Fal-Mai and the gathering behind her, then nodded. "Fine. But if you are lying, we will not hesitate in opening fire. Follow me." With that, she turned and slithered towards the mouth of the cave, the rest of the Vipers watching Menace One-Five as they followed her. Her brothers caught up to her and Mordenna muttered "nice job" as he did.
The walk was quiet for a moment before the Viper looked back. "My name is Shel-Za," she began. "I am my lord's primary consort and his advisor. Are you here because you heard our broadcast?"
Mordenna nodded. "Sure did! And, uh, we've got a warning for you guys. Whatever the hell you're using to put it out there... anyone can hear it. And I do mean anyone. ADVENT included."
Shel-Za "hmmm"ed at that, looking forwards. "... if you're speaking the truth, I shall bring it up with my lord. Now that we, apparently, have garnered XCOM's attention, there is no reason to continue broadcasting it."
"Hopefully it won't be too late by the time you take it down," he muttered, crossing his hands.
Having seemingly no comment at that, Shel-Za continued into the mouth of the cave. Just beyond, the almost alien architecture was clear—beyond a certain point in the cave's enormous entrance, a wall of alien metal had been established, only giving way to a large, wide door. At its sides, the strangest Mutons Fal-Mai had ever seen stood. Their armor looked far different to ADVENT fare, and they were taller, if somewhat less stocky, than the ones she was used to. Still muscled enough that she had no doubt they could snap someone in half. They also lacked the mask that other Mutons wore, revealing a mouth that looked Berserker in nature, but with thin stretches of skin that could be lips.
"Those don't even look like the Mutons at First Contact," Eliza muttered over comms.
"Must be the true originals," Mordenna mused. "Kinda like the Vipers around here."
One of the guards looked up at Mordenna. "Does the Chosen have something to say?" He hissed. Seems the different mouth structure allowed them to speak English, if somewhat strangely to the ears. Fal-Mai caught a glimpse of a tongue within, too.
"Xaakt," Shel-Za chided. "They are guests, for now. XCOM, as well."
Xaakt re-adjusted his gun. "Fine. One wrong move..."
"Keep it down, brother," the other natural Muton said, shaking his head. "If they aren't what they say they are, you'll have your chance."
At that, Xaakt backed down, huffing and looking back towards the horizon. His brother tapped a panel behind him, and the door started to shudder open. "Sorry for that. He's somewhat untrustful of former ADVENT, even if recruiting them is out main objective," he said, last statement very much pointed. "Whatever the case, proceed on in."
Shel-Za nodded to him, and moved inside. As Fal-Mai followed, she had to take in her surroundings with amazement. This was definitely an ADVENT facility at some point—but it was clear it had been taken over by its new inhabitants. Devices she couldn't guess the purpose of lined the walls, crafted naturally. The walls themselves were positively covered in greenery—yet, when Fal-Mai examined it, it didn't seem to be of this Earth. Perhaps it was doing a good imitation, but there was something clearly off about the ways the leaves moved despite there being no breeze, and the patterns upon them, and how some of the vines were holding onto guns like they were living weapons racks. There was clearly more machinery here at some point in time—but it had been apparently gutted, for some reason.
There were also the inhabitants. More of the natural Vipers and Mutons watched them pass—though there were a few former ADVENT Mutons here. In a group of three over in the corner, there was also a gathering of Archons. One of them was standard ADVENT fare... but the other two were clearly different. Different-shaped, decorated helmets, different wings, different skin tones, one green and the other a washed-out yellow. Seems there was much more variety to be had on the Archon homeworld... and that their appearance here was apparently how they were originally.
Past the initial entry room, Shel-Za opened another door and moved beyond. The next room was much of the same, with the walls completely covered. But now there was a thick blanket of plants on the floor, almost mossy, but not sticking to her boots. Some of the vines on the walls were flowering, the flowers themselves reminding her of plants touched by the Blight. To the Vipers scattered about, Shel-Za hissed something in her language again, and they moved into the adjacent rooms—but not before one came up to her and took the injured Neonate from her arms. She turned back to Fal-Mai. "Wait here. I will fetch the rulers." After that, she moved into the room on the right, leaving Menace One-Five alone.
Mordenna rubbed his chin. "This is possibly the strangest thing I've seen, outside of the horrors of the Void. Am I really to believe the Archons were like that originally?"
"Can't be," Bradford came in, incredulous. "They were Floaters back then. If you're telling me they've always looked like they stepped out of a Greek painting..."
"Well, if the Mutons were different," Rosa said, leaning against SYN, "who's to say the Archons aren't, too?"
"Indeed," Jax commented. "The 'Vipers' took on a different form at First Contact as well, did they not?"
"Thin Men," Eliza spat out. "So I guess the Floaters were the Elders making the Archons into agents of terror."
"Well, we're about to find out." Mordenna crossed his arms. "Fal-Mai, you seem to be doing good at this diplomacy thing so far. Keep talking to them, tag Sammy in if you need, and all else fails, I've got a backup radio on me that Eliza can talk through."
Fal-Mai nodded, turning back towards the center of the room. They weren't kept waiting long—the door on the right opened, and in came the Alien Rulers.
First was the Viper King. His scales were a solid white and natural thorns spread out from his hood. His armor was strange, with a crown-like headpiece with a holographic symbol displayed upon it. Back from his armor, a scarf-like cloth trailed, and he took his place on the far left to the squad.
Next was the Archon King. His armor was a shining black and his wings were far more decorated, with red bolts of statics running through a similarly colored field, like an unnatural halo. His skin was red and his helmet was more flat and arched than the standard, pointed one seen on other Archons, and ribbons trailed down where his body ended. He floated next to the Viper King, deftly holding a clearly-modified staff.
Lumbering after him was the Berserker Queen. She was far larger than any other Berserker Fal-Mai had laid eyes on, and the plates adorning her body were impressively thick, probably able to hold off blasts of plasma. There was a faded, green coloration on her back—and what looked like broken injection ports, destroyed long ago, with plants growing in the cracks. She stood next in line, standing at the usual Berserker hunch, but with an air of dignity to it as she clasped her hands together.
Finally, what Fal-Mai guessed was the Gourgeamous Queen ducked under the door. She must've been the source of all the greenery—judging by the tone of her skin, the vines hanging off of her body and head, the four giant wing-like leaves on her back, and the leaves adorning her head and making up her tail along with the vines. She reminded Fal-Mai of the centaurs she'd seen in some of Jax's favored art pieces... but instead of an equine lower body, it was more reptilian in nature, with long, clawed legs. A bouquet of alien flowers hung from her head, though one of them looked like it belonged on Earth, if somewhat strange still. Her eyes were a shining gold and there were a set of fangs on the outside of her lips. Quite muscled for a walking plant, outranking Eliza's build. Finally, her vines and leaves—and some of her skin—were marked with a shining purple pigment, almost as if she had psionics. She capped off the line of Rulers.
The Archon King was the first to speak, voice deep and sounding like it belonged to a more suave, visually younger version of Jax. "Greetings, XCOM. My name is Rodin." He gestured to his fellow rulers with his free hand. "This is Shazara-Ta, the Viper King. Vel'kiin, the Berserker Queen. Celosia, the Gourgeamous Queen." He then leveled an eyeless gaze at Fal-Mai. "This is certainly a strange welcome party, the Commander sends. I would not think them one to send the Chosen to greet us, even you lot have apparently defected."
Fal-Mai took her chance to speak. "The Commander's intent is to show you that they," Fal-Mai said, mindful of her current anonymity, "are welcoming and accepting of any who truly wish to better themselves."
"A bold statement," Shazara-Ta replied, voice hissing, clearly having a difficult time speaking English but having full knowledge of the language. "And the machine?"
She took in a deep breath. "Perhaps Shel-Za has informed you that your broadcast is being heard by all available parties. The Commander feared that ADVENT might come upon you soon with that visibility, and made sure to send a full force squad to ensure that if they did, you would have even more of a fighting chance."
Shazara-Ta made a sound that Fal-Mai could only assume was a scoff. "Have we not been subsisting fine thus far? Your Commander sounds presumptuous."
"Hold, Shazara-Ta," Celosia said, voice soft, but deep. "The Chosen's words have merit. While we may not need the help, there is no reason to deny it." She turned to address Menace. "What are your names?" When the squad got done listing off their own names, she nodded. "It is good to meet you all. We have been hoping to meet XCOM for some time now—hence, our rather risky message."
"Risky's one way to put it," Mordenna spoke. "I wouldn't be surprised—"
"Hold that thought," Eliza came in, sounding hurried, "Lily's spotted ADVENT dropships on long-range scanners!"
"And a lot of them," Lily herself chimed in. "I'm... I'm seeing a Sectopod hooked up to one of them."
Mordenna, stopped up in his tracks, was garnering the attention of the rulers. Vel'kiin huffed something, presumably in her language, and Rodin translated for her. "Speak, Chosen. What has happened?"
Mordenna wrung his hands together. "Ok. So. Y'know how I was warning you about ADVENT coming in and crashing the party due to your broadcast? Well, that's happening. Right now."
When the four rulers rightfully looked to Fal-Mai for confirmation, she nodded. "We have a ship landed that has picked up ADVENT dropships incoming. The Commander just told us through our communicators. If you choose not to believe us, we will fight off ADVENT alone."
The Alien Rulers went quiet for a moment. Then, Vel'kiin spoke again, gesturing naturally as she did. That caused them to nod, and Celosia spoke. "Your words have merit, if you are so willing to fight them off alone. We will prepare to fight at your urging." She nodded to her fellow rulers, and they scattered, with Vel'kiin and Shazara-Ta moving past them to the mouth of the cave, and Rodin flying into one of the connecting rooms. Celosia approached the squad. "I will set up a triage area here. Do you have any medics in your squad?"
Samhien nodded, stepping forward. "I am. I will be happy to work with you, Queen Celosia."
"Grand." She turned her attention to the rest of Menace One-Five. "I will take Sammy here so we can tend to the wounded. The rest of you establish defensive positions—I trust you all know your roles."
"Why, of course!" Mordenna pulled his Darklance off his back. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you sound like a regular Commander, yourself."
"Queens on my planet were prized for their strategic ability, even in the Satellite Queens. If you could not prevent a war," she explained, "suffice to say, you could not lead your people. Now, go!"
Taking the order, Fal-Mai was the first to go, entering cloak and peeling away from her squad as she dashed back to the mouth of the cave. Already, Vel'kiin and Shazara-Ta were leading the aliens into defensive positions, with the Mutons leading the front, the Vipers at the back, and the Archons in the air between them. Fal-Mai took up her spot in front of all of them, hiding in the shadow of a large rock even if her shroud was covering her. In the late afternoon glow of the sky, she could see dots on the horizon, quickly growing larger, with one of the slightly-deformed ones she could assume belonged to the one holding the Sectopod.
A shot rang off behind her—a familiar one, and she watched as a bullet from Mordenna screamed through the air. It was a while before it made contact—but when it did, one of the ships dropped from the sky, crashing into the Earth. "Those shots take a lot out of my mag," she heard Mordenna explain to someone, "you want me as anti-air or anti-personnel?"
"Anti-air," she heard Shazara-Ta reply. "We have plenty of anti-personnel as is."
"Right!" Mordenna could be heard reloading. "Give me a minute before the next shot!"
If Mordenna could take down a few ships, that would make it so much easier, considering more were appearing on the horizon. Enough to lead Fal-Mai to believe ADVENT was planning to wipe out the whole resistance coming from the cave. She kept to her cover, watching. At least there were some units that couldn't be brought by ship.
Of course Fal-Mai had to think that. As the air far in front of her seemed to peel open, from beyond the veil of the Void, a Gatekeeper emerged. No regular Gatekeeper was this—its shell was a dark gray, almost black, with the accent lines being a muted red... almost like her former armor colors. With it, she saw Chryssalids spill out from the hole in space. Gunfire opened and she drew her blade, cutting down those who passed while keeping an eye on this unique Gatekeeper.
Right next to it, a Specter formed out of the Void. Its head was rounded up and slightly back into two spikes, like horns, and the lines on its body were a foreboding red. One of its arms was fashioned into more of a blade than anything else, and it scanned the battlefield. "Eliminate everything," she heard it say over the din of battle, voice like the soft groaning of a machine about to collapse in on itself. "Especially the Chosen. Helena's orders."
Helena. Was she the one to suss out the location of the cave? Was the new Gatekeeper and Specter taking direct orders? Were they made in response to the Chosen defecting? The questions momentarily blinded her to a Chryssalid running past—but before it got too far, a Viper tongue belonging to Shel-Za wrapped around it and slammed it into one of the nearby rocks, killing it instantly. Looking behind her, Rodin had returned from rallying the rest of the compound and was now weaving through the crowd, cutting down Chryssalids that got through the hail of gunfire.
Looking back, the Specter had disappeared, leaving the Gatekeeper, who was seemingly keeping the portal open, allowing the onslaught. Another shot from Mordenna pierced the air, and the ship with the Sectopod on it went careening towards the ground. He wouldn't nearly handle all of the ships, but he'd make a dent at his rate. Plasma occasionally struck the Gatekeeper's shell, but if it made any impact, the alien didn't show it. Fal-Mai's grip on her blade tightened. It would take a cut such as hers to destroy it. "Tell them to divert fire from the Gatekeeper," she hissed into her comms. "I will stop it."
Behind her, Jax lent his booming voice to the cause—and he must've been doing something to amplify it, because she could tell that without her headset it would've made her ears ring. "Focus upon the Chryssalids!" With that, the Gatekeeper was no longer being pelted by the occasional blast of plasma.
She took in a steadying breath, winding her cloak so thickly around herself she was sure that even in the Void, she would be hidden. She peeled out from her cover, dodging between the Chryssalids and the gunfire that sought after them, eyes focused upon the Gatekeeper. An eye shot would probably disable it, if not outright kill it. Cut deeply enough on anything and you could kill it, was her thinking. She didn't need to be her brother and know the exact anatomy of every monster.
She stepped smoothly into a crouch, then uncoiled like a spring, sailing through the air and keeping her shroud up for as long as she could. By the time it had lifted and the Gatekeeper's orange eye slid to her, she was already upon it, driving her blade deep into it while planting her feet either side of it. It made a sound like a thousand fireworks shrieking through the air, and she could see the portal around it close. Drawing her blade back, in that moment she used her momentum to leap off using it as a springboard, tumbling back and landing on her feet as she saw the portal wink out, taking the Gatekeeper with it. If it hadn't died right there... that might not be the last they saw of it.
Not wasting a second, Fal-Mai turned on her heel and made to dash... and fell flat on her face. Wait. She was the Assassin. She didn't do tripping.
"Hello, Neylor."
The area around her suddenly darkened into night, then into pitch black, leaving her isolated. She moved to cut at whatever was around her, but her left arm was restrained, then her right. It seemed the darkness itself had curled around her wrists and was now dragging her into the air, restraining her legs as well. She was turned to face the Specter, whose legs disappeared into the darkness. "Oh, surprised, are you?" Its chuckle was rust grating against rust. "You are not the only one to bleed into the edges of sight, to elude even those who peer beyond the veil."
She strained against her bonds, then remembered her communicator. Before she could tell anyone where she was, the darkness closed around her throat, and all she gave was a strangled squawk. "As much as I would appreciate hearing you scream in agony," it continued, "best you don't tell anyone else where we are. Would ruin the fun, hm?"
It slid closer to her, eye to faceless visage. "Afraid, are we? Tut, tut, Assassin. You really have fallen far from grace. I suppose the first sign of that was getting captured, but I figure they can't all be winners. Now. As much as I'd love to drag this out, I am on firm orders to make this quick so you can't survive, as you seem to have a knack for eluding death even when caught out."
It drew back, raising its arm to bisect her vertically. "Helena sends her regards."
Life or limb. This was life or limb. Fal-Mai chose the latter.
With a noiseless scream, she yanked on the right side of her body, forcibly dislocating her shoulder and sending her shunting to the side as the nanomachines tried to readjust. There was almost no resistance as the Specter's blade arm sliced through her shoulder—but the agony practically split her consciousness and she felt on the verge of passing out, head swimming in pain.
The link between her and her brothers shuddered—just in time as a bullet ripped through the darkness, right where Fal-Mai's head used to be. It split the head of the Specter and the sphere of darkness dropped, sending her to the floor where she crumpled, mindless and filled with suffering. The nanomachines retreated and the Specter disappeared into the early evening light, leaving her alone and exposed, clutching her blade with her remaining arm as she coughed and shuddered out half-sobs.
Something wet, warm, and strong wrapped around her waist, and before she could think to cut it, it dragged her back in the direction of the cave, revealing it to be a tongue from a friendly Viper getting her to safety. Her own blood mingled with the sand behind her as she watched her arm get smaller and smaller in the distance as she was rapidly dragged back.
Her body felt cold, her head was light, and warmth was spilling from where her arm used to be. She was only vaguely aware of her surroundings as she was picked up in a fireman's carry. She registered Jax's low drone beneath her as the scenery bled by her, melding together in her blurred sight. Then, she felt heat track down her face. Jax, she could feel herself say. Jax, it hurts. She could only feel it, as if she was submitted to damning silence for once in her life.
She was eventually set down, leaned against something. Breathe. Where the command came from, she didn't know, but it was so hard to follow. It felt as if the air was stolen from her the minute she hit the ground, and she couldn't bear to breathe in and realize her situation. Breathe. Breathe.
Her lungs burned and eventually she took a gasping breath. She must've inhaled something, as the burning in her shoulder began to subside and the fog that closed in around her head was traded for more of a light mist. Another intake of air, and the pain went to a dull throb. Her vision restored, if somewhat blurry, Fal-Mai took stock.
She was back in the room where they met with the Alien Rulers, leaned against Celosia and in her lap. Sammy was next to her, helmet off and wearing her gas mask, secured onto his face via clever use of his supplies. When they'd taken that off of her, she didn't know. The more she breathed, the less pain she felt, until the only indication she got that Samhien was tending to her shoulder was the vague feeling of him working his tools against her flesh. It allowed her to see the full extent of the damage—her arm had been cut off at the shoulder, though she couldn't tell if the blade had damaged the socket.
Strangely, the reality of the situation seemed so... far away. She simply passively regarded her shoulder, looking to Samhien. Is it going to be alright? She swore she said that.
Sammy looked to her, eyes narrowing. He then looked up to Celosia. "... how deep do you have her under?"
"I have you wearing her mask for a reason," was the queen's answer. Still, it didn't really seem to matter to Fal-Mai so much. It didn't hurt and she felt rather relaxed. She leaned more on Celosia, eyes tracking the gentle particles of mist wafting through the air. "I don't know what the Chosen's resistances are like, so it's... heavy."
Samhien shook his head. "I am finding myself glad that Hunter Mordenna's craftsmanship is peerless. If that were affecting me, I feel as if I would be unconscious."
"Probably so. If anyone comes in, direct them very much around us."
Sammy nodded, continuing to work on her wound. Soon, it felt like a gentle heat was getting pressed against it. "I never believed I would need to cauterize a wound of this kind with Eliza's commanding, and yet..."
Hm. Eliza. Fal-Mai's eyebrows moved together. Would Eliza be ok? Well, Fal-Mai was ok with missing an arm. Didn't seem to matter so much, at the moment. But how would Eliza react? Losing a limb was kind of a big deal, and she hoped Eliza didn't blame herself if Fal-Mai was the first to lose a limb under her commanding. Will Eliza be ok? She asked.
Again, Sammy looked to her, seeming heavily concerned. "I... don't think I've heard a Chosen slur that much... are you sure the dosage you're using—"
"It's this or she feels every single thing you're doing," Celosia shot back. "Unless I'm given a week's notice, this isn't an exact art."
Summarily silenced, Sammy focused on her shoulder. Eventually—though time seemed a little weird at the moment—he wrapped up her shoulder in bandages. "I'm going to need to dress this properly when we return to the Avenger," he muttered. He stood up. "We don't seem to have many other wounded, but I'll handle them as they come. Just... keep her company, alright?"
"Of course. Head to work, Samhien." With that, Sammy left them, leaving Fal-Mai to lean carelessly against Celosia's chest. The lack of heartbeat was interesting—though she could still hear some low rush of fluid, as if Celosia had blood running through her veins regardless.
Still, her worries for Eliza remained. Eliza?
Nothing. Eliza? Are you there?
Fal-Mai frowned, a bit of discontent working its way through the fog of passiveness. Why wasn't Eliza responding? Was Fal-Mai's communicator broken? She moved to manipulate it with her remaining arm, but Celosia held her close. "Still yourself, Fal-Mai. Save your strength."
Fal-Mai could feel herself practically whine. I just want to talk with Eliza.
"Keep hearing you say that word... 'Elusa?' I can't imagine that's what you're trying to say."
Was she not hearing her correctly? Then again, Samhien did mention her slurring. Perhaps the painkillers were distorting her speech. Ee-lie-za. El-i-za. She is my Com-man-der.
"Ah. 'Eliza,' hm?"
Yes.
"So a woman leads your resistance?"
Yes.
"... I suppose this planet has some sense, then. Trying to talk to her?"
Yes. My communicator is how.
"... keep it short and simple, Fal-Mai. You're not in much of a state for eloquence.
Eloquence? It was hardly four words. Sighing, Fal-Mai slumped back against Celosia. I just want to know if she's alright. She is my whole world, do you understand? I would die if I hurt her, unintentionally or not. Without her, I would be nothing—just another dog of the Elders, oblivious to my fate. I love her without a doubt and she makes me love being in love. I want to talk to her. I want to be with her. I want her to know and say that everything is going to be alright. Do you understand?
Celosia looked down at her, golden eyes soft. "—perhaps it's a good thing you're so drugged you can't speak," she mused. "Could barely understand a word you said, and I feel like there was something personal in there. For your sake, be quiet, alright?"
Quiet? Quiet she could do. She was the Assassin. She was the night. Closing her eyes, she made it night. She could be quiet. Quiet was good. Quiet was her.
She didn't know how much time had passed, exactly, or if she even fell asleep. One minute she closed her eyes, the next she opened them. She was now laying on the floor in a soft bed of grass and flowers, a dull ache in her shoulder. She blinked a few times, sitting up. There were beds similar to hers, with a few Vipers and Mutons laid down. The air was quiet and filled with the scent of some flower she couldn't place the name of, but it calmed her.
Still, she remained sitting up, curling her arms—well, her arm around her legs. The missing muscle memory made her look over again. Samhien had fully bandaged her up, and there wasn't even a stump to indicate she'd had one in the first place. This time, looking at its absence made her stomach turn, but still, she didn't feel too perturbed. Alright, she lost a limb. She'd taken shots before. This would just be a little more permanent.
The door to the room opened, and in streamed Mordenna and Jax. She could hear Sammy's voice protesting just beyond, but they came in undeterred, with Mordenna sliding to a kneeling stop right next to her while Jax crouched down. "Fal-Mai?" Mordenna gently moved her, getting a better look at her bandaged wound. The color seemed to drain from his face. "Oh. Oh. Oh I knew, but." One hand pressed against his temple. "This... th-this is all my fault, if I'd waited a bit on that next shot I would've had the ammo to shoot that fucker immediately, a-and then this wouldn't—"
"Brother." Jax put a hand on Mordenna's shoulder, then looked to his sister. "Fal-Mai. Are you alright?"
Fal-Mai looked slowly between the two of them. "I am... fine," she responded, lips no longer feeling like they were melting putty. "Are you two alright?"
"Are we alr—Fals." Mordenna looked at her intensely, eyes wide. "Fals you lost an arm and you're asking us if we're alright?"
"Fal-Mai is still coming off painkillers," Sammy said, hurrying up next to them. "Strong painkillers. She's... likely not quite with us yet."
"Arm..." Mordenna snapped his fingers. "Is her arm still out there? It can't have been too long, if we reconnect it—"
"I've..." Sammy looked to the side, taking off her face mask and clutching it. "I've already cauterized her wound. And if her arm remains in the field... there is no speaking as to the state of it."
"You... you have to try, you can't..." Mordenna shook his head rapidly. "No. No, I can work around this. I've brought robots back to life, I've made guns that kill psionics, I can make an arm. Yeah. Fal-Mai I'll have you a prosthetic quicker than you can blink, ok? I'm just—I'm sorry." He clutched Fal-Mai, burying his face into her good shoulder. "I'm sorry. I-if I'd been quicker, I could've stopped it."
Jax brought Mordenna in for a hug, wrapping his other arm around Fal-Mai. On reflex, she sought an arm around Mordenna... and found herself wanting to hug Jax, as well. "I'm sorry, Jax," she muttered. "I... cannot hug you both, anymore..."
The statement made Mordenna choke out a sob, and even Jax looked away, silent. Sammy looked to the side awkwardly, muttered something about tending to the other patients, and left.
"Fal-Mai?"
That was Eliza! Thankful her communicator was still working, Fal-Mai leaned against Jax in lieu of hugging him. "Hello, Commander. Is everything alright?"
"... yes. Everything's alright. How are you doing?"
"Fine, for the moment." She sighed. "Everyone seems worried. I'm sure things will be better in time, as they always are."
There was silence once more. She could've sworn her communicator went offline before Eliza spoke again. "Th-that's... that's good. I'm glad. I'll... I'll see you in the ship, ok?"
"Ok." Eliza's voice sounded strange at the end, like it was wavering. She hoped she was really alright... but Eliza said she was fine, so Fal-Mai would believe her. She continued leaning against Jax, patting Mordenna's back as he sobbed quietly. His sadness, his inadequacy weirdly resonated within her, as if she was supposed to be feeling that way. She was only missing an arm. Only? Yeah, maybe... maybe it was a bit of a bigger deal than she was making it out to be. As she thought that, the dull pain at her right side grew. Mordenna was crying for a reason.
She squinted past her brothers. Inadequacy? Why would she feel that? She did all she could—and it was losing an arm or losing her life, so the options really weren't evenly weighted. Still... maybe there was something she could've done to prevent it? Maybe remembering that Specters went invisible in anticipation of a strike—but she wasn't her brother, she couldn't see it coming. Oh well. She'd think more on it later.
Mordenna eventually stopped crying, palming at his eyes. "... I'm sorry," he eked out once more.
"It's not your fault," she replied easily. "I am thankful you stopped it eventually."
"For god's sake," he muttered with some heat, "come to your senses. This ain't you. You're not detached. That's me."
She looked to him. "You do not seem very detached right now, brother. You seem quite the opposite—caring for my current state."
In a rush, Mordenna wormed out of the group hug and stood up, kneading his skull. "I can't—no. Not when she's like this. It's not right. She doesn't even know."
"Mordenna—"
"No," he said, interrupting Jax. "No. I'll—I'll get the Skyranger here. She'll need me more when she's coming off this high." With that, Mordenna stalked off, through the door.
She looked after him, feeling a small measure of sadness. Arm now freed, she used it to hug Jax. "... I didn't say something bad again, did I?"
Jax looked to her mournfully for a second, then took in a deep breath, appearing calm as if she did not just see him so vulnerable. "No. You are... simply coming down from a dose of painkillers. Things... will be clearer soon."
"Soon?" Well, Fal-Mai could wait. She nodded. "... could you carry me to the Skyranger, once it comes?"
"Of course."
It was quiet then, for a while. She watched as Sammy checked in on the other patients and as they stirred, thanking him for his help as they assessed their wounds. Jax fully sat down next to her, and she focused on the strong rhythm of his heartbeat, contemplating, but on nothing in particular.
"Menace One-Five, the Avenger itself is coming in for pickup." Bradford's voice filtered in through general comms. "Seeing as we've got a lot of allies to relocate."
Well, that would make the trip shorter at least. After that, it wasn't long before the ground itself rumbled gently, as if a titanic body was moving just outside. Jax weaved his arms around Fal-Mai and gently lifted her, carrying her out the door and through the entry hall, where the aliens were gathering their weapons and some of the equipment.
When Jax moved outside, Fal-Mai had to take a solid minute to survey the damage. ADVENT corpses littered the area outside the cave with the invading force of Chryssalid corpses being the most prevalent. The ground was well-trodden and scuffed, with orange blood being mixed into the sand. There was a trail of alien blood starting a little ways away from the door and leading out into the sand—an old trail. Must've been hers. Vipers, Mutons, and Archons were picking up the weapons, bringing them into the open ramp of the Avenger, which sat a ways away.
Jax made his way onto the Avenger, holding Fal-Mai firmly the whole time. They passed the Workshop, where Lily was directing the ADVENT weapons drop. She caught sight of Fal-Mai and averted her gaze, going quiet for a moment as they passed.
Onwards through the ship Jax moved, and more the pain in Fal-Mai's shoulder grew. Inadequacy. Mordenna was gone and it was no longer the ghost of it she was feeling. It now seemed to be her own emotion. Inadequacy? Well, yes, she was missing something. A part of her design.
Helena sends her regards.
The words came screaming back across her mind and she sucked in a breath, pressing her face against Jax's armor. Yes. She was missing a part of herself, a part of her perfection. She wasn't perfect anymore. She was lesser. Damaged goods. She was not Helena's but Fal-Mai would not hesitate to say she was Eliza's, and she was nothing now. She was broken, unusable. Why would the Commander hang onto someone with a missing arm? Even if Mordenna made her a replacement, it wouldn't be the same. She wasn't whole anymore.
Jax hugged her closer. "We're nearly there, sister."
She shuddered. "She won't want me anymore," Fal-Mai lamented, voice high and full of sorrow. "She won't."
"Nonsense," he shot back, speeding up his pace. "Eliza has always accepted us as we are, and she won't think of you as lesser for this injury. None of us could have predicted the deployment of such advanced units onto the field."
Fal-Mai shook her head petulantly. "She won't," she repeated, lacking the words to explain the nuance.
Jax tapped the panel to a door, and the smell of the Infirmary hit her nose. He took her to the back and set her down on one of the Chosen-sized beds. She immediately drew inwards on herself, clutching the spot where her right arm used to be, even if that made the pain worse. "I'm broken," she continued. "I failed. I let them take something from me! How can I serve her if I can't stop something as simple as losing a limb?!" Her voice raised as she protested, pressing her forehead against her legs. He didn't understand.
She could feel Jax lean against the railing to her bed. "Sister. You did everything you could. Eliza will not—"
"She will!" Fal-Mai pounded her remaining hand against the railing, fixing Jax with a heated, tear-filled stare. "You don't understand! You haven't lost something and had to face the most important person in your life and figure out what you have to say for yourself! You have everything!"
In the silence afterwards, what Fal-Mai said really hit her, like her painkillers had fully worn off in that moment. Jax slowly drew himself upwards and looked away from her, expression unreadable. "... you're right," he muttered. "I don't know what it's like to lose a part of myself and then have to face someone who used to be my entire world and figure out what I could say that could avoid punishment."
A part of himself. Even back then, in ADVENT custody, he considered her that important to him? Fal-Mai opened her mouth to apologize, reaching after him, but Jax was already walking away, a trail of dried orange blood marking the melted back of his armor. He left without saying a word after that, opening the door and disappearing into the hallway like a ghost.
Fal-Mai's arm fell to her side as she sat there, frozen. Soon, she laid down and curled up on the bed, drawing her shroud over herself as she hiccupped, pressing her face against her knees once more.
She was broken. Nobody would want her anymore.
