I think I like author's notes too much, but I want to keep leaving them. This chapter is a little longer than the others. I don't know if I can keep the chapter lengths consistent honestly, which is annoying but not too bad I think. This is where shit begins to hit the fan. I know it's been a little bit of a slow burn, but the accelerant is starting to catch fire. So strap in and get ready. Also, regarding an update schedule, I think I'm going to go between daily and every two days. Without further ado, enjoy.
Ten years after Advent Unification, former XCOM Base
The gathering of personnel in Mission Control was much smaller than Bradford remembered. Then again, not everyone could make it back for the first reunion of all branches of personnel in ten years, which was unfortunate. He watched Kislewski lead a toast to the hard work of the war and the continued dedication of the attendees. After the initial gathering, the reunion split out by section as troops reminisced with other soldiers and the support staff coalesced in to little groups to talk about their own lives.
Among the troops, the MECs stood out like sore thumbs. Unable to return to society like the less drastically modified troops, the MECS had set up their own colony in the reaches of the Russian tundra, in an old XCOM hangar that they had converted. A non-insignifcant amount of XCOM's remaining funds had been diverted to make sure that the mechanized soldiers had been taken care of in the aftermath of what many people called the "Scattering," when the soldiers had finally been forced to leave the barracks and return to their home nations. Each of them had left with a share of the absurd bounty from the sale of XCOM's stores on the grey market. The Commander had authorized the sales as XCOM no longer had active research programs. The only thing that had been maintained were the Firestorms, which, still mothballed, were too valuable to give up. They sat dormant, behind false doors well below any construction that had been done while the war had been going on. Bradford called them the "Caverns of Last Resort," a name that the Commander felt was over the top but not entirely inaccurate.
As Bradford walked by the soldiers, Kislewski called out to him, "Hey Bradford! What do you think of all these 'advancements' that the Advent administration has been working on? It sure is entirely unaticipated that all of these technologies that have never existed before are happening, right? I sure would like to see a genetically modded person some day, or someone with advanced cybernetics," she continued sarcastically.
Bradford replied with the same sarcasm, "I don't know what you're talking about Kiz. I'd suggest you ask Dr. Vahlen about any scientific developments if she's free."
The assembled troops all chuckled and went back to swapping stories as Bradford moved further into the party.
A dinging from the front of the room caught the attention of everyone gathered. The Commander climbed onto a table and an instant and total hush fell over the room. The speech began in a tone manner that Bradford immediately recognized as serious and out of the normal character of the reunions.
"I'd first like to thank you all for coming," The Commander began. "I know that you have all traveled far to be with your friends from the old days and to help us fire up the Hyperwave Relay for the last time. But it has been almost two decades without major alien activity, and our funds continue to drain. It seems unlikely that we will be able to continue to use the Hyperwave Relay unless this project were to be restarted at a reasonable level of funding. I have had to make the decision between continuing to provide for our troops who cannot reintegrate into society and scanning with the Relay. So barring a sudden infusion of governmental funds, this is the final reunion that we shall have in this base. I'm sorry to gell you all this so suddenly. But there is a plan that I have been testing since we were forced to close down. Dr. Vahlen, please explain."
The blond scientist joined the Commander on the table. "I have been testing a communications bead that is implanted subcutaneously. The bead can relay messages discreetly to a personal communications device. This will allow all of XCOM to keep in contact now that we must go our separate ways. The Commander will explain the necessity of this action further."
After taking a brief drink of water, he speaking. "After today, we must go wide. We have to scatter into plain sight in order to prevent us from being wiped out as a large group. I am worried about the possibility of the aliens returning. And because of the unification under Advent, it has begun to worry me that we could fall in one swift move. One reason we were able to fight the aliens in 2015 was that some governments were willing to support us even while others pulled out. The movement seemed too altruistic when it started, but recent reports I've received from contacts in the government are troubling. Some people seem to believe that there is a sinister purpose to this unification. Advent cities seem to be the utopian future of which we have dreamed, but something about them seems...off. The last time I felt like this, the base was hit and we lost Rodriguez.
At this, the crowd broke into low whispers in memoriam of the valiant Scout, who had been killed fighting against a massive assault on the XCOM base during the invasion. Waiting until the muttering had stopped, the Commander continued,
"If XCOM scatters, becomes the anathema of a united unit, then maybe we can resist should the aliens return. For some of you this may seem drastic, and I will not force anyone to take a comm chip. But this is just the first step in leaving behind a legacy of XCOM.
Our MEC troopers will be responsible, along with any soldier that wishes to join them, in inducting a new rookie class at the MEC Haven in Russia. It is here that we will train new rookies in the event of an alien return. I've spoken with our MECs and they agree. Kislewski will command the base. This training facility will be the only centralized version of XCOM remaining one week from now. As for this base, too many people know where it is already. We'll truly be closing the doors for the last time. Bradford and I will maintain the ability to reopen it if disaster strikes.
That concludes my speech. The sign ups for subcutaneous transmitters will be circulated throughout the party as we wind down."
The furor created by the end of the speech echoed throughout the cavernous room with no sign of cessation. Some in the room questioned whether he was tilting at windmills, or moving too drastically. However, the immense respect for the strategic and tactical genius the Commander had shown in the war quelled those concerns immediately. The former operatives and staff unanimously decided to receive the implants from Vahlen. One by one, they filed through the med bay, flinching as the chip went in before moving on to test its capabilities.
As far as global communications went, the chips were relatively simple. Through the chips, officers of command level, Bradford, and the Commander could send messages to part or all of XCOM if necessary. The tracking potential of the chips was minimal as all others outside the command chains were completely passive in nature. In the event of the death of high ranking command staff, the chips would devolve the sending privileges to the next highest ranked survivor.
The Skyranger flew the guests in waves to the nearest commercial airport. There they met flights that would take them home. As he watched the Skyranger return to base for the last time, the Commander breathed a sigh of relief that regardless of what happened going forward, some part of XCOM would survive.
From a console, an analyst for the Advent satellite coverage systems noticed an unidentified type of ship moving to and from an island in South Japan. He flagged the anomaly, and forwarded it to his supervisor for further review. The his supervisors tagged each person getting onto flights that had gotten off the odd aircraft. And where they went was fed into a system that connected the surveillance with security forces worldwide.