Note Gomez Rodriguez is a canonical character to X-COM: UFO Defense per information in X-COM: Terror from the Deep.

Activation - 1.0

20:45 EST
Victoria 'Glory Girl' Dallon

All that Victoria could feel as she rushed towards the Rig with a heavy backpack on her back and Amy in her arms could be best described as fear. She had honestly believed that the whole Extraterrestrial Combat Unit Project or XCOM had been a great big joke. Come on, aliens couldn't be real right?

Then this afternoon her phone buzzed alerting her that she was to report to the Rig, that the XCOM Project had been activated. Suffice to say, it was suitably terrifying, aliens did exist and they were very much hostile. What with that outright abduction of several thousand people straight from their homes and businesses which had promptly been razed to the ground in green fire.

Thus here she was, the wind in her hair as she rocketed through the sky, Amy's arms were wrapped firmly around her neck as she closed in.

The communicator in her ear buzzed. "Attention Glory Girl, we have visual contact with you. State intentions." the Rig's ATC reported.

"This is Glory Girl with Panacea, requesting permission to land, authentication code X-Ray Alpha Centar Two-Seven-Eight." she rattled off instinctively, the ATC on the Rig would know what she meant. In fact, she could see a Skyranger from here, the transport was supposedly hypersonic capable, though she doubted it.

There was a pause in reply and then a different voice answered. "Permission Granted, countersign Hotel Bravo Zulu Four-Niner-Niner."

Victoria exhaled a breath she didn't know that she had been holding, the countersign checked out with the authorization code she had used. "We good?" Amy asked, her words hard to decipher over the whistling of the wind, having likely felt or seen the change in her posture and stress.

She couldn't help it, she smiled. "Yes, yes we are." she replied firmly.

Amy nodded imperceptibly.

The landing pad was a hive of activity, the Skyranger was sitting on the pad being prepared for its flight back to XCOM HQ, various techs were swirling around it. Victoria looked at the Skyranger briefly and nodded, judging by the colors this was Skyranger Full House, while the crew wasn't as good as the crew for Skyranger Big Sky, they were arguably the next best crew.

Then she cast her gaze around the pad and blanched; there was easily at least one full PRT Heavy Response Team with duffel bags on the pad, clearly waiting for clearance to board. Then her eyes fell upon the other Parahumans that were on the pad, there were three of them and she recognized all of them. Two were from the Wards, Missy and an African American teenager, the body language of the two indicated that both of them were frankly scared shitless, the third was Miss Militia from the Protectorate and while she wasn't visibly shifting foot to foot or had a distinct tightness in their shoulders. But judging by how her power was shifting from various holstered and sheathed weapons, she was also nervous.

"Holy shit, this is really happening." Victoria breathed as reality started to sink in, the way that the crew were hurrying along was something else - there was an urgency to the way that they moved and worked.

"Yeah, I guess it is. Surprised to see Shadow Stalker though, I wonder how the hell she managed to get out of trouble." Amy said, looking at her.

Victoria nodded, the so-called Locker Incident was infamous in the Brockton Bay Area already particularly after evidence emerged that Shadow Stalker, in her civilian identity, might have been at least partially responsible. The fact that she had been a Probationary Ward member meant that she was already in trouble to begin with. There had to be something deeper going on regarding her.

Shaking the thought off, she couldn't help but wonder why the hell they were waiting, they needed to get to XCOM HQ as soon as possible. So why the wait?

She got her answer when someone roared "ATTEN-SHUN!" and everyone came to attention and saluted as Director Piggot, in Full Dress walked out, the Medal of Honor she won at Ellisburg recovering a critically wounded person in order to save them from Nilbog's monsters gleamed in the lights illuminating the helipad.

"As you were." the overweight woman boomed out as she came to the podium and then she adjusted something in her grip.

Then she started to speak. "Good evening troops, I know that it's not exactly the best time for this. But then again, the enemy is like the Endbringers, they never attack when we're ready. As each and every one of you is a member of the XCOM Project, you're facing arguably a foe that is as deadly as Behemoth but who has the technological advantage. But just as we have told the Endbringers time and time again in our battles with them that we aren't going to just rollover and die. You're going to do the same to these aliens who think that they can waltz in like they own the place, too bad for them, humanity has been fighting things more powerful than us for decades. You're the finest Capes and soldiers here in Brockton Bay, I want you to head out there and show these aliens how it's done, Oorah?"

The reply was uniform from the PRT men and women. "Oorah!"

"I can't hear you." Piggot growled out.

"OORAH!" The soldiers and parahumans roared out in unison, Victoria was surprised to hear her own voice adding to the booming chorus.

"Mmhm. Now move out, dismissed!" the director boomed in response.

As if that was the cue, people began to file towards the waiting Skyranger. Victoria grabbed Amy's arm to stop her running off and dragged her over to where the members of the Wards and Protectorate were standing. There was a nervousness now that she hadn't realized was there rising up within her.

"At least she gave a good speech." Missy said nervously as they approached.

"Stop being so fucking nervous, we're going to be a verified group of badasses considering we're going to be fighting fucking aliens." the other girl said in a surprisingly jovial tone, but there was an undercurrent to it, a tone that Victoria had never heard before.

Missy picked up on it too. "What, you scared Sophia?"

Sophia boomed a laugh. "No I am not runt." she replied.

"Oi! I am not a runt!" Missy snapped.

"You're the shortest one here, that makes you a runt." Sophia said in a tone that Victoria wasn't sure what it meant but Miss Militia sighed.

"Sophia?" she growled out.

"Yes Miss Militia?" Sophia asked sweetly.

"Please don't antagonize Missy all the way to XCOM HQ." Miss Militia told her in a tone that reminded Victoria of her mother telling her off for doing something stupid.

Sophia looked down and nodded. "Yes mam." she replied, seemingly chastised.

"Surprised that you're part of XCOM, Missy." Amy said and Missy looked up, nodding.

"Yeah, they were really interested in me because of my power." Missy replied, ducking her head.

"Same here, apparently my knack for phasing arrows from my crossbow through body armor using my power got them interested. I am Shadow Stalker when in costume." Sophia admitted, scratching the back of her head and Victoria nodded, unmasking was XCOM policy at least among members of the XCOM Project. Primarily because of the fact that they wouldn't be able to leave XCOM HQ to go out on the town essentially.

"Shit, you can do that?" Victoria asked, surprised and frankly amazed. Creativity when it came to using powers wasn't exactly common to her knowledge.

Amy nodded. "She can, I've had to patch up a few unlucky bastards that she's done that too."

Missy whistled in appreciation. "Damn, that's impressive. Even with the Unwritten Rules, you would be a goddamned terror to fight since armor and materials would mean nothing."

Sophia did something that despite her broody attitude and from what her interactions with Shadow Stalker in the field told her. The girl actually preened, as if she thought that her ability was the hottest thing ever. "Damn fucking straight I am."

"Indeed, now can you please pick up your things so we can board the Skyranger?" Miss Militia said and the others nodded before doing so.

Victoria eagerly led the way up the ramp behind the last few troopers onto the Skyranger. She had never been on one of the preferred transports for XCOM, for shuttling people to and from XCOM HQ, V-25s had been the preferred manner of getting people to and from the secret base because V-25s weren't as noticeable as the Skyranger. That being said, she was familiar with them to the extent that she could recognize one due to varying differences in paint scheme.

This one had clearly been outfitted for carrying passengers judging by bench seats that were everywhere. Victoria found a seat roughly in the middle and sat down after putting the bag that had both her and Amy's things between her legs. The bench wasn't comfortable in the slightest, it was comparable to how comfortable the benches on the V-25 Tiltjets were. Which was, suffice to say, not at all.

Miss Militia settled down across from her and almost immediately did something that made Victoria's eyes bug out given how uncomfortable this damn seat was. She fell asleep almost as easily as breathing. It shouldn't be that easy to fall asleep when you're sitting on a bench seat so damn uncomfortable, even the seats on passenger jets are more comfortable. She thought irritably at the sight of it, amazed that someone could fall asleep that easily.

"That's just not fair." Victoria groaned out as she fought to keep her aura suppressed below the skin.

The man next to her snorted. "Better learn that skill then being able to fall asleep like a cat can. It helps maintain energy and focus." he said, Victoria couldn't quite place the accent, it sounded vaguely French.

"I am sorry, but who are you?" Victoria asked, she was a member of XCOM and knew from her previous training over the course of the Summer and Winter Break that they employed several Wards.

The man snorted. "Jackson Lesage, Canadian Special Operations Regiment, you?"

Victoria smiled. "Victoria Dallon, I am the cape Glory Girl." she told him merrily.

"Dallon? Wait, you're Panacea's sister, aren't you." Jackson replied, that strange accent of his still coloring his words.

"I am actually." Victoria said and the man whistled.

"Damn, well aren't you lucky then." Jackson said and Victoria shrugged.

"I have to agree considering that her trigger event saved my life." she replied, suppressing a shudder as she remembered that day. The bullet wound that had caused Amy to trigger had been a double tap, a pair of 9mm rounds straight to the chest. She still remembered using her strength to crush the gun, and the shooter's hands in the process, before collapsing in front of sister. The sensation from her limbs slipping away, fluid pooling under her, a deep coldness settling in her chest, and darkness engulfing her vision as she whispered what she had thought was going to be her last words.

That day, Death had honestly come for her and had been in the process of taking her hand in order to lead her to the other side of the veil when Amy had triggered. She had promptly fought Death and made him reluctantly give up his prize. She still remembered how first her sense of touch returned, then her sense of taste, her sense of smell, her vision, and then finally her hearing. The sounds that Amy had made when she had blinked the blurriness out of her eyes and had said from the bottom of her heart 'Thank you'.

"That's brutal, triggering like that." Jackson said before pausing, but before she could speak, Amy made her displeasure known.

"No shit Sherlock Holmes." Amy snarled. "I thought that I was going to have my sister die in my arms."

"Hey now, I know what you mean. My daughter is a cape too, she triggered during Behemoth's attack on Toronto." Jackson replied, holding up his hands.

"Fuck that Endbringer, seriously fuck him with a serrated automatic pogo stick. I almost died more times doing fucking SAR at Toronto alone than I did when I first started being a vigilante and I had more close calls as a vigilante than I would like." Sophia growled out, her voice having an angry, bitter tone.

"Nice metaphor." someone said.

"Just the fact that you had the nerve to actually do SAR against the Hero Killer makes me want to buy you a beer." Jackson admitted with a shrug.

"I can't drink, I am not twenty-one!" Sophia snapped, her face red at the implication.

"There's always that Synthenale shit." Someone called out. "The package of beer, wine, or spirits without the alcohol thus you don't need to be of the legal limit."

"Synthenale sucks. Who the hell would drink that crap?" Another soldier growled out, there was smack. "Ow!"

"I drink 'that crap' since I am not of legal age." Missy growled at the soldier in question, putting one of her hands in her lap.

"To be fair, we're going to be fighting fucking aliens and given that XCOM is so multinational its not even funny, there will probably be a drinking age of like sixteen." Some wiseass said.

"Given that most countries don't even have a minimum drinking age, I doubt it." Someone replied.

"You're just saying that because you want to see some of the Wards get drunk." the wiseass answered.

"Assault and Battery can be pretty funny when drunk, though, uh…" Missy trailed off, Victoria looked back and saw that the youngest Ward was blushing from her neckline to hairline.

Every single soldier, barring those who were asleep, busted out laughing. Victoria would have to admit that her training with XCOM had made her more open to the sort of jokes that soldiers could and did make. Thus she joined in the laughter and just like that, the tension was gone.

"All crew members, prepare for departure." The pilot said as the ramp raised up.

Victoria got over her laughter as the engines started to spool up. "Missy, you sort of walked into that one."

Missy was blushing so hard that she probably would have shown up on infrared imaging, just put her head in her hands. "Someone just kill me." she moans out.

"No can do squirt. The Commander would likely take offense." Jackson stated and Victoria frowned.

"Do we know who the Commander is?" she asked.

"Hell if I know." a soldier sitting next to Miss Militia said.

"Agreed, a lot of rumors on who but nothing concrete. We probably won't find out who until we get to XCOM HQ." A third soldier replied.

The Skyranger rumbled and lurched into the air, taking to the skies. "Welcome aboard Full House Air, our itinerary today after departing Brockton Bay includes Stewart Air National Guard Base, Andrews Air Force Base, Camp Lejeune, Homestead AFB, and following stops terminating at XCOM HQ. We should arrive at roughly 0400 hours tomorrow. Drinks, peanuts, cookies, and other pleasantries will not be provided on this flight. But, in any case I recommend that you sitback, relax, and let us do the flying. Thank you for flying Full House Air." the pilot announced over the intercom and Victoria sighed, this was going to be a long ass flight, she could already tell.

Yay.

At Stewart AFB, Victoria wasn't surprised to see several more troops and Flechette walk up the ramp, though the young Japanese-American Ward was the only Parahuman who did. She settled down next to Miss Militia and sighed, her shoulders were hunched, her figure wound up tight with nervous energy.

"You alright?" she asked and Flechette jumped, looking around frantically before sighing.

"Not really." she admitted.

Victoria reached out and put a hand on her's, it was a bit of a stretch but she managed it. "Hey, it's okay. We're in this together." the Alexandria package said in a comforting tone.

"I know, it's just, thanks to my power. I arguably have the most vital role of anyone in XCOM and I am going to be on the frontlines regardless." Flechette replied and Victoria frowned before realizing what was bothering this girl so much.

She was scared, terrified really.

"Hey, for what it's worth, I am scared too." Victoria said and Flechette perked up.

"Good to hear I am not the only one." Flechette said and Victoria hummed, wondering what could be causing this.

"Did Legend give a variation of his Endbringer speech before sending you guys off?" Victoria asked and Flechette nodded.

"He's an amazing Cape, but I swear, he needs to go to classes on how to give a speech." she stated.

"Got that right, I honestly thought that his speech before the fight against Behemoth in Toronto was quite pathetic." Sophia growled from where she was a few seats down.

"No kidding, the comparison he made was that fighting aliens is going to be like fighting a new Endbringer for the first time." Flechette said with a sigh, blowing wind out of her nostrils.

"He did that? What the hell, Legend?" Jackson butted in.

"Hai, he did and I agree for the record." Flechette replied and Victoria cocked her head.

Flechette blushed. "Sorry, habit. Hai means 'yes' in Japanese."

"Oh."

There was a pause and then Flechette blush deepened. "I totally forgot something, given how at XCOM, cape identities don't mean much."

"What?" Victoria asked and wasn't surprised when Flechette then took off her mask.

"I am Lily, Hikari Lily." Flechette, Lily introduced herself properly.

Victoria leaned back. "Victoria Dallon, Glory Girl. You can call me Vicky." she said, introducing herself in return.

"It's a pleasure." Lily said, leaning forward and offering her a hand, Victoria took it and they shook.

"So Lily's what your power?" Victoria asked.

"I can imbue materials with the ability to penetrate anything, including its believed, Endbringers." Lily explained and Victoria couldn't help it, she whistled in surprise.

"That's crazy." She said sincerely, she knew that powers could be bullshit but damn that was impressive.

"Yeah, it's pretty bullshit, though I and I hate to say it Victoria. But I am better at doing collateral damage than you are." Lily said with a smirk as she remembered some of the more…spectacular incidents she had caused.

"I got my PHO nickname after a building collapsed during a fight. I was partially responsible for it and the villain I was fighting then called me 'Collateral Damage Barbie' and it stuck." Victoria said with a pout.

"You haven't accidentally caused near catastrophic damage to a substation in New York City putting over a hundred thousand people in the dark and then had the bolt which did the damage fly almost half a mile downrange going through buildings and vehicles like they're made of paper; I am lucky I didn't kill anyone." Lily answered with a shudder, the chewing out she had gotten from Legend over using a full power shot in the heat of the moment during a battle going spectacularly sideways had not been pleasant. Neither had the chewing out from the Chief of the NYPD, the Chief of the NYFD, or the PRT's New York City Division Marshal been particularly fun.

Victoria whistled in surprise. "Damn, I have never managed something that spectacular."

"Pray that you never do, I got chewed out by the Fire Chief, Police Chief, a PRT Marshal, and Legend for that particular fail. After that I then had to go through some very thorough remedial training so I knew when to use full power on my crossbow and when not too." Lily explained, giving a full shudder.

Victoria winced, getting chewed out by a member of the Triumvirate for stupidity, that would suck. She thought that mom could be bad at times for chewing out. But Legend, no, just no she doubted that she could handle that. She would likely want nothing more than to melt into a puddle into the ground.

"That likely wasn't pleasant." Jackson butted in.

"No, it wasn't." Lily admitted. "I wanted to melt into a puddle and flow down a drain."

"Well, we've all been there before after doing stupid stunts. You should have seen Mom's face when I was experimenting with my power and I accidentally succeeded in turning a section of the backyard hot pink." Amy said and Victoria couldn't help it, she laughed hysterically and soon most of the Skyranger was laughing as well as Amy flushed scarlet with embarrassment.

Gomez Rodriguez

XCOM Colonel Gomez 'Road Block' Rodriguez had a grim look about him as he waited for the Skyrangers to arrive. He was a mountain of an African-American Man, six foot six inches and well over two hundred pounds with a barrel chest, broad shoulders, and a squared jaw.

The Commander had arrived earlier today, she was currently on the tour beyond the barracks, research labs, medical center, and engineering. She was being shown the entirety of XCOM HQ, colloquially known as the Anthill, its fission and steam generators, the officer training school, the workshops, and laboratories.

So while the Commander had arrived, they still needed the troops and that's what the eight Skyrangers were delivering. Properly fitted out they could carry a disconcerting number of men and women. There were seven Strike Units that needed to be filled out in their entirety and Strike Two needed to be rebuilt as well, this was in addition to bringing in dozens of Engineers of various stripes, researchers, scientists, and medical staff.

Personally he didn't think that the Commander was freaky, he had taken part in CSAR of fallen heroes during Endbringer battles for years and had fought in battles against the petty Warlords that had risen up in the Middle East and Africa shortly after Behemoth had appeared. His credentials were already well established with XCOM.

He wasn't surprised when Skyranger Full House arrived first, the men and women onboard came boiling out of the transport as its engines spooled down. A mixture of normals and parahumans, soldiers primarily came out of the transport.

He nodded as he recognized them, Victoria gave him a respectful nod as she eagerly led her sister and someone else to their living spaces.

Missy nervously shuffled by, her bag slung over her shoulder as she followed a confidently walking Hannah. Walking right alongside the young girl was Sophia, her gait indicative that she too was nervous but her terror wasn't as palpable either.

Right, Missy had only been picked up by the XCOM Project as a recruit literally two weeks before all hell had broken loose.

Gomez really felt sorry for the kid, she didn't deserve to be here - to be tossed into the fire so readily. He made a mental note to ask the Commander to keep Missy off missions unless she was absolutely vital for said mission. Even so, he hated the idea of actually sending her into battle.

After a team from Strike Two had gotten decimated, the idea of sending Missy into battle just didn't sit right. This was despite the fact that she had seen more action in her four years than most Wards saw in their careers as Wards. She was just too young to be doing this, fighting aliens and god knows what else. But because she had triggered with a Shaker rating of nine and with an extremely useful ability too, it meant that she had been selected for the XCOM Project.

But that didn't mean he had to like it, she was just a kid for fucks sake. He sighed, this war was going to be absolutely brutal, he just knew it was. Sighing he turned and called after the nervous girl. "Missy, you have a moment?"

Missy squeaked in surprise but turned and after a brief exchange with Hannah that he didn't entirely catch. "Y-yessir?" she asked nervously.

He walked over to her and knelt down. "Is everything alright?"

Missy shook her head violently. "No sir."

"Scared about heading out there?" he asked.

The young girl nodded furiously. "Terrified actually."

"Hey, it's okay. I've been in the military, done combat operations, have fulfilled Kill Orders on dangerous capes, and have been part of the response to Endbringers. I know what it's like to be scared." He told her gently.

"You? Scared? I doubt that, you look like you could break Aegis over your knee without breaking a sweat." Missy said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"There's a saying Missy when we're in the military that helps explain that." He answered, hoping that Missy would ask about it.

"What's the saying?" she asked.

"Anyone in a battle who isn't scared is either dead or stupid. Given that I am still alive and given that I've been a soldier for years, I am not stupid either - so I know what it's like to be terrified out of your wits." Gomez replied, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Missy seemed to perk up. "Good to hear that I am not the only one who is terrified of battle then."

Gomez smiled. "No problem, you ever need someone to talk to, I am willing to lend an ear."

"Thank you!"

He looked at the others from Brockton Bay. "That goes for you two and Victoria as well once I managed to track her down. You need someone to speak to, I am willing to lend an ear."

Sophia nodded.

"Thank you Colonel." Hannah said.

"Anytime." Gomez replied, standing up. "Need help getting settled in?"

Hannah opened her mouth, but Sophia beat her in answering. "Might as well, I am not completely familiar with the Anthill yet."

It caused the Americanized Kurd to shoot a sharp glare at Sophia who held her hands up. "I've only been here once, I was recruited after the 2011 Ward Summer Training Session and I lost a leg in November of that year and needed it regrown by Panacea so I missed most of the Ward Winter Training session."

Hannah sighed in response. "Right, sorry, I forgot about that."

Gomez chuckled. "Hey it's okay, shit has been beyond hectic ever since Hayes occurred. I am not surprised that you forgot Hannah."

Hannah shook her head. "I was second in command of the Brockton Bay Protectorate and was one of the few in the know about the XCOM Project at Brockton Bay. I should have kept a better track of how well those in know, knew XCOM HQ."

With a smile, Colonel Rodriguez turned and led them deeper into the Anthill. War was breaking out, might as well enjoy what peace they had before it went completely to hell.