Don't really have any massive announcements so uhm... yeah. Enjoy.

Chapter 4: Meeting the Old Guard

Hrefna sat in what she had, unofficially claimed as her seat. Same chair as all the others really, same terminal as well. But she had used it before, and it only seemed right that she would stick to it. Hallway buried in her sweater with a cup of hot chocolate in her hands she went over things once more.

The convoy they had hit, drew out a bunch of scavengers. Civilians living outside of ADVENT cities and their control. They had send the Firebrand back with a few supplies and an X-COM representative. The Avenger didn't have the space or resources for civilians, so they had directed them to the nearest resistance haven and given them the supplies for the trip. It was the least they could do, and while they might have need of those resources in the future - Hrefna had agreed that leaving them to fend for themselves or only given them half the stuff they needed for the trip... It helped no one.

Blackstone was being debriefed, or maybe they had already finished. Hrefna wasn't sure, either case they were back on the Avenger enjoying a well earned rest. The wounded resistance soldier would be spending the night in medical, apparently his wound had been worse than it looked - but he would live, what happened after that was up to him.

And now they were prepping for the next mission, simple hit and run on an ADVENT monument in a calm city centre. Central had chosen the target well, it was one of 3 major cities in the area with low crime rates - whatever that meant for ADVENT. The strike would take place at 11pm, a few hours the usual curfew rules kicked into place. The city would be dark and quiet. Civilians huddled in their homes with only small numbers of ADVENT troops present on patrol.

Squad tag was Archangel, and Central had left the briefing to Hrefna while he checked up on a few leads delivered by resistance people in the field.

She got up from her seat, popping her back a few times before moving on the armoury. Might as well get familiar with the soldiers she would be leading, well the squad leader would be the one leading them, Hrefna would just call out orders.

The Avenger - Classified Location

Early March 2035 - Evening

"So... you done this before?" A timid voice called out from his left. Stick glanced over his shoulder, hands still assembling his rifle from pure muscle memory. He cracked a smile "Oh you have no idea kid." And he was a kid, couldn't be more than 25 - lean build, short messy brown hair, brown eyes and a face that told Stick it was his first mission.

He finished putting in the bolt and attaching the rifle guard, 5 magazines on the table in front of him. His old reliable H.K 416, chambered in NATO standard 5.56 Armour piecing ammunition, custom bolt carrier, 4x-1x scope, extended magazine and a silencer to boot.

It was a work of art.

NATO didn't exists anymore of cause, hadn't for a long time. Shen made the bullets to order for him. It was his old service rifle, several parts had been replaced due to wear - and better rifles no doubt existed. But this was his and it had killed more aliens then half the current X-COM soldiers combined, he would be dammed if he had to replace it with some fancy new thing.

Stick leaned back, giving the kid his full attention. He flinched slightly. Stick chuckled. "I'm not gonna eat ya you know. They wouldn't throw you on the team if they didn't think you were ready for it, trust me." Stick put on a smile, trying to get the kid to calm down a bit.

"And if everything goes to shit, hide behind me and Blackwing. We'll get you home in piece, you can count on that."

He nodded a few times, taking a deep breath.

"Thanks, I've fought ADVENT before but, it was small convoy ambushes and sabotage. this whole thing-" he said, waving around the armoury "- It's much bigger than anything I've ever been part of... It's X-COM for crying out loud."

"Eh you'll get used to it. How long you been here?"

He seemed almost embarrassed to tell, but to his credit he still did "2 weeks. Mostly been brushing up on skills and training but... there's so much going on at once, and out there you don't really have time to think. It's just, act and hope for the best... What is it?" The kid asked, noticing the increasingly wide grind plastered on his face.

Stick waved a hand dismissingly. "Aaah it's nothing, you should have been here at the beginning though. When the Commander was here, Christ you barely had to think with her around. Half the time us veterans barely knew what was going on, but she did. She always seemed to know exactly what needed to be done and how to do it."

"She? The Commander is a woman?"

"Oh yeah, but don't think that meant she played nice. She had more brain for tactics than the entire ADVENT combined could ever dream off. Not afraid to use it either."

The kid looked at something behind him but Stick didn't pay it much mind.

"Yeah those were the days, we had a few losses for sure but nothing like now. Many of use started doing bets on who could kill the most aliens over a number of missions." He finished with a chuckle. Back then it seemed like they had a fighting chance, not as grim and tough as it was these days.

"Uuh..." The kid muttered, but before Stick could turn around and see what had him so confused, he heard a voice that froze the battle heartened veteran in his tracks.

"Stick...?"

No that couldn't be.

He forced his head around, eyes finding her exactly as he remembered.

"Commander? You...what on earth?" She looked exactly the same as he remembered, tall and lean. Soft features, steely grey eyes and brown hair reaching her lower back.

20 years... and she looked exactly the same. Not a single grey hair or wrinkle, she even wore the same kind of clothing, those silly oversized sweaters. Looking as out of place as ever in the steely grey armoury.

"I... You... I knew they had brought back a VIP a while back but..."

He gulped, shacking his head in disbelief.

"You haven't aged a day?"

The Commander looked away for a moment, seeming to struggle with something but her face remained neutral and revealed nothing. "I thought you were dead too... Is, is Blackwing...?"

That seemed to bring him out of his stupor, he shook his head before shouting "Blackwing! Get your butt over here" The Commander seemed to soften a bit, but Stick barely noticed.

They heard a few light steps as someone rounded the corner.

"...Holy fluff." Was all she had to say. Standing as frozen as Stick had a moment ago.

The Commander let a small smile cross her face as she started. "I'll spare you the details. Trust me, you're better off without them, but..." she let out a sigh" "Where do I even start...?"

Stick spoke up, trying himself to figure out how to ask what he wanted to know. "The HQ was destroyed? We've been there, it's nothing but a giant crater."

Her eyes shot up a bit in surprise, but only for a moment. "Oh? Well, they must have done that after... Well they stormed the HQ, killed most of the personnel I think. Central and a few others managed to get out alive, I... well. They took me, the aliens I mean, barely had time to react before I was tacked by a muton"

Stick grimaced, mutons were nasty, then and know.

"They kept me in some kind of 'stasis suit' I think Tygan called it. Basically frozen in time - hence why I haven't aged at all. We, don't know why, or for what purpose, if they even had a plan or just..."

She let out a deep sigh

"There's a lot of unanswered questions. But I'm here, and ADVENT is pissed X-COM managed to free me. I plan to make the most of it."

Stick had no idea how to react. It seemed so, unreal for lack of a better word. The Commander had been a major factor in why the aliens took as long as they did to get a foothold. Tracked down and destroyed numerous UFOs sabotaged their attempts at taking over cities, ambushing and whipping out their forces as quickly as they arrived. At least to a point, as Central had informed them after they found each other. As things picked up speed, casualties and collateral damaged increased... The council got cold feet, signed a peace treaty with the bastards - No, not a peace treaty, they just gave up, unconditional surrender and let the aliens walk right in. Millions lost their life holding the aliens back only for a handful of Bureaucrats and politicians to throw in the towel. But the Commander had a point, why keep her alive? Why stop her from ageing of all things? Stick dismissed the question. The aliens had set up a dystopian police state, murdering left and right while preaching peace and prosperity. None of it made any bloody sense.

The commander spoke again. "Can't say I'm too surprised you two managed to survived all this but still. I am curious..." She said, leaving it hanging.

Well that was something he could answer. He raised himself slightly.

"Well, me and Blackwing here was a mission, clearing out that UFO when it happened. Comms were knocked out almost instantly, only got a rushed message about HQ compromised before the whole damm thing went dark." he finnished before Blackwing took over. "We expected the worst and planned accordingly, took what we needed and went underground for a while, waiting for things to settle."

"We met Central again, 4 years after the war ended. We were running gorilla ops against ADVENT, small scale stuff of cause but, you'd be surprised how much chaos a well placed c4 on a supply train can make" She winked.

The Commander had her head tilted slightly to the right as she always did. It was almost eerie, not a single thing had changed after all these years.

"We went around for a wile, travelled a lot. Gathering what people we could, and hitting ADVENT whenever the opportunity presented itself. It was slow work. Wasn't until recently that we got the Avenger here, first HQ in years that wasn't a run down building in the middle of nowhere."

"And now you're back. I heard the last missions went flawless, got that converter Shen's been screaming after. Avenger will finally be able to take off... Starting to think we might actually have a shot at winning this." Blackwing finished optimistically.

They were all silent for while, each deep in their own thoughts. That was, at least until the commander spoke up.

"While we are on the topic of shooting things..."

Both Blackwing and Stick peaked up and immediately knew were she was going.

"Oh... do we, you have a mission for us?" Stick felt all giddy, instantly looking forward the operation, whatever it was. Beside him Blackwing rested her rifle on her shoulder, a heavily modified marksman rifle.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, we gonna drop a bomb in ADVENTS backyard, literally. Low risk mission, ever been to Raven lake?"

They all shook their heads

The commander pulled out a data pad, showing a top down picture of a dense city centre. There we 2 locations market along with a route.

"Well it's your lucky day then. It will just be the 3 of you, fewer is better on a mission like this. You'll be dropped off 2 blocks away" She said while pointing to a blue square marker before moving to the market route. "Sneak your way to the objective, plant a few X4 charges, evac and watch the fireworks." She finished with a smile as if the mission was already completed.

"Target is an ADVENT monument, it's located in a plaza, pretty open but security is minimal. We will try to avoid unnecessary confrontation, it is the city centre so hostile response time would be quick."

Stick nodded while looking at the map, going over the buildings on the route. "Is that a sky-bridge?"

The Commander nodded, "Yeah, these 3 building are connected by a sky bridge, should provide easy access but watch out for the roof tops, they like their surveillance. If you are going to meet any hostiles it will be at the monument plaza, but even there it should be minimal." She finished before quickly adding. "Oh and uhm. Would recommend silencers and subsonic ammunition."

"Gotcha" Stick said, already in the same line of thinking. Mission was low risk yeah, but only if they stayed undetected. Like the Commander said, it was in the middle of an ADVENT city centre. An army would on them in no time, and even a few X4 charges couldn't solve a problem of that size.

"Well mission starts in 20, you better get yourselves ready."

Stick nodded and slapped the rookie on the back. "You heard the Commander, go get your stuff."

He turned to the Commander. "I'll get going as well, it's good to have you back."

She gave a half smile in response before leaving him to it.

"Remember rookie, subsonic isn't too good at dealing with armour, so aiming is essential if you want to take these things down without wasting half a mag."

"Right, slower velocity means worse at defeating armour. How silent are they? Compared to normal rounds I mean?"

"Pretty big improvement, especially if you use a silencer. It's still an explosion sending a bullet flying, but it won't smash your eardrums if that's what you worried about. Don't ask Blackwing by the way, she will provide a demonstration by slapping you in the face."

The Rookie blinked at him, before answering a bit unsure.

"I uhm... Noted, thanks for the warning." He finished packing the magazines and the frag grenade, putting his rifle sling over his head and strapping in the helmet.

"Have everything? Good then let's get on board, wouldn't want to miss our flight" Stick moved ahead and found a seat opposite Blackwing who were already in and ready as ever. The rookie took a seat 1 space from Stick making him chuckle a bit.

They had only just gotten comfortable when the lights flicked on and the ramp started closing.

"This is your pilot speaking. There will be no snack served on board and likely a lot of turbulence. 20 min flight so hope you enjoy the ride." And that was it. Stick couldn't hold back the laugh that exploded from him.

"Oh, hehe. That was a good one. Hope you enjoy the ride"

And with that the drop ship lifted off from the Avenger, turning hard left before speeding up on direct course to Raven lake.

Several minutes passed in silence before the rookie spoke up.

"Don't uhm. Don't the big cities have anti air guns?"

Stick gave him a short look before checking the timer, 12 minutes 'till they arrived, meaning they would have crossed the city border by now. Secure transport to and from wasn't his area to worry about, so he didn't put too much thought into it.

"They do yeah. But you needed to trust the people around you to do their job. I guarantee you they thought of it before sending us out. Plus" he added in a joking tone. "We already crossed the city borders. If we we were going to get shot down it would've happened already." And with the Commander back Stick was half tempted to catch a 10 min nap just for the hell of it.

"Archangel this is the Commander speaking. You've already been briefed on the objective so I'll make it short. We're going to drop a bomb in ADVENTs backyard, remind everyone that they are not as invincible as they try to seem. I'll be guiding you from above."

"Archangel here, roger that. Looking forward to kicking the hornets nest!" Stick called out. And he was, the Speaker would of cause dismiss it as the actions of a few 'dissident citizens' but the message would be clear to everyone. Blowing up a monument to the alien leaders couldn't be more clear if they tried.

Menace came to a halt over a five story building, the rooftop a good 3-4 meters below them. Stick jumped the rope without hesitation, his feet hitting the roof with a thud - He wasted no time, quickly securing the area for hostiles.

Blackwing landed silently next to him and then rookie after her, though not nearly as silent, he still managed to avoid falling flat on his face.

Stick gave signal to Blackwing to check behind a large ventilation box while continuing his lookout. She quick moved around before giving a quick thumbs up. With that Stick opened up coms. "Archangel to Avenger, landing zone secure, permission to move on objective?"

"Permission granted, rooftops are clear for now. Slow and steady Archangel." The Commander responded.

Stick motioned for them to advance, the skybridge was 1 floor below them so they would stay on the roof. Preferable for the whole trip, didn't want to risk crashing into an office with a few people working late. Stick moved to the edge of the roof above the sky bridge and started his climb down.

From there they moved carefully but fast across. There were no railings, and a 4 story free fall onto the concrete below wasn't in anyone's interest. Reaching the adjacent building Stick helped the rookie up, before following. Blackwing climbed on her own with practised ease.

"Archangel you'll have to move down here, there's a door to your left take it down to second and move north from there."

"Copy that" He responded. Turning left around more ventilations and boxes finding the door right behind. Rookie stood behind him while Blackwing took position in front, ready to fire should hostiles be there. He quickly pulled the door open and Blackwing signalled it clear.

They steadily advanced down the dark staircase, weapons ready.

Reaching second floor they opened the door to an empty office, rows upon rows of cubicles all the way to the other side.

Stick motioned for them to split and clear it down the middle, the Rookie with him.

When they reached the other side they had clear view of a giant plaza, numerous trees, benches and fountains with pedestrian paths criss-crossing through.

"Ah there we have it" Blackwing said in a calm tone.

"That's...That's a monument to the Elders isn't it?" The commander asked in a neutral a tone.

Centrals reply rang out before stick even had time to turn on his microphone. "Yeah, we don't know if it's just ADVENT propaganda but it seems they fancy themselves as gods. Whatever the case be, we should get the response we're looking for"

Stick merely nodded. "Command we have eyes on the objective, any hostiles on site?

"Confirmed Archangel, you have 4 hostiles patrolling the area near the target. No civilians on site, staircase is clear so split up and get as close as possible - We only have one shot and it won't take long for ADVENT reinforcements to reach your location once you open fire."

With that they advanced to ground level and carefully made their way onto an eerily empty street.

"Left secure" Blackwing called

"Right secure" the Rookie called before Stick had time.

He gave the Rookie a light punch to the shoulder. "Learning quick Rookie, keep it up and you'll have us out of a job."

Rookie merely rolled his eyes making Stick grin in response. They moved up a few stairs and into the plaza. Clean cobblestone roads, trimmed bushes and ADVENT propaganda everywhere you looked. It was almost too clean, it didn't look like people lived here. Blackwing suddenly crouched next to a retaining wall, motioning for them to stop. Stick turned and covered their backs while the Rookie moved up front.

"Archangel to avenger, confirm location on hostiles?"

They were barely 20 meters from the monument, still in the clear.

The Commander responded after a brief moment.

"2 patrolling 25 meters on your 10, moving south. 2 more straight ahead, 15 meters standing still. You'll need to take the patrol on the right out, before you proceed. Hold position and wait for my command"

"Roger that"

They waited for a tense moment. Stick wasn't sure for what, but he knew there was a reason and that was good enough.

"Archangel move out, hostiles direct front 15 meters, weapons free"

They all nodded, Stick and Rookie switched to semi automatic.

Rookie moved and Blackwing gave him a pad on the shoulder signalling that it was clear. They silently advanced from cover, catching sight of an ADVENT Stun lancer and trooper moving slowly away from them towards the monument. They stopped and took aim, Stick was front and held up 3 fingers in a silent countdown.

He dropped a finger and then slowly another. The moment the last dropped they fired 3 shots in quick succession. 6 clapping sounds in quick succession.

Blackwing hit the trooper in the neck and then twice in the back, he fell over, dead on the spot. The stun lancer suffered much the same except the rookie played it safe and delivered all 3 shots to the upper back.

The ADVENT forces had barely hit the cobblestones before they rushed towards the monument.

"Archangel to Avenger, X4 charges are being planted, need evac."

"Menace is on their way, open grass area west of your position."

Stick and Rookie stood on overwatch while Blackwing started placing the charges.

Stick thought he heard something and pointed direct front to the path they had come from, Rookie nodded in confirmation and took aim.

They saw the second patrol jogging out from between the retaining wall and a bush at the same time. Stick aimed for the left one, a stun lancer with a nasty electric sword. More claps rang out, 1 bullet found it's mark centre of their helmet followed by 2 more to the chest.

The stun lancer crumbled, dead before they had time to register what happened.

The Rookie fired twice sending the trooper stumbling forward, Stick moved his rifle preparing to shoot, it would be inaccurate and rushed but he took no chances. Stick quickly prepared to fire just as 7 more shots went off in quick succession, this time hitting the head and chest and sending a splatter of blood into the nearby vegetation. There was a light metallic clang as the casings hit the stone.

Stick turned and look at the rookie, he looked a bit pale, but determined. "Nice shot, need an extra mag?" He said, giving him a light poke with his elbow. "Oh shut up."

Stick laughed, before opening coms "Avenger confirm, all hostiles down?"

"Confirmed, evac will be there in 20 seconds, good job down there." The commander finished

Blackwing came around the monument after having placed the last charge, to the sound of the Menace approaching.

She took a quick look at the dead ADVENT troopers. "Oh, I missed all the fun."

Stick smiled and the Rookie shook his head.

"Welcome to the team Rookie"

"You're not gonna call me rookie forever are you?"

"Oh, I definitely I will."

Hrefna was sitting in her quarters, knees pressed to her chest looking at the terminal showing footage from the mission. She hadn't brought it up besides a clarifying question to be sure but... From the moment she saw the monument, her mind had only been half on the mission.

She had gotten a sinking feeling in her stomach when it first popped up. It wasn't a perfect match for sure, a bit stylized perhaps. Tall, regal and golden but... 4 arms, flowing robes, familiar looking helmet.

Hrefna had mentally removed 'checking the archive again for clues' from her to-do list. The answer was right there, in the middle of her screen, high resolution from 3 different angles.

The Elders, the rulers of the aliens, the ones behind the invasion and presumably every atrocity committed against the human population the last 20 plus years... Had - it would seem, decided to grace Hrefna with their presence, not once but twice during the last week and a half.

But why...? Was it a normal thing? Some side effect of the chip they removed? Just her brain tripping hard after 20 years in stasis? Hrefna shook her head, both figuratively and literally. Tygan was already looking for answers, no use in asking more questions now, she would save them for later. Patience Hrefna, patience.

She would take a trip to the armoury again at one point, get a feel for their equipment. She had meant to do so earlier but, reuniting well old friends took priority.

But it would be easier for her to make the right decisions if she knew what weapons they had to work with. Assault rifles were a bit self explanatory, same for shotguns and bolt-action sniper rifles. But she wasn't sure about the calibre and ballistic properties in case they needed long range shooting. Even knowing how well it penetrated body armour and materials like concrete, cars etc. She knew the ins and outs of Sticks rifle, that idiot refused to get a new one regardless of how much better they were. But then again, he was racking up kills as fast as anyone so who were she do judge.

She uncurled herself and slid off the chair, shutting off the terminal as she went. She should have been asleep a while ago, but the revelation had left her mind a bit... Anxious.

She had never faced something that could reach her without being anywhere close. If that is actually what's going on her mind supplied. And it was true, she didn't know. But that just made it worse, not knowing whether or not to treat it as a threat, and how would they even begin to do that? Oh hey Tygan, you know the elders who rule the aliens right? Yeah I see them in my dreams...

She let out a sigh as she sat down on the bed.

Wouldn't be the worst attempt at starting a conversation she'd done, she chuckled a bit to herself before rubbing both hands across her face and yawning.

She slowly pulled off her sweater, wincing a bit from the movement. She dropped it on the floor, her glass of water was still on the bedside table. She rarely ever woke up thirsty, but rather not need it and have it than needing it and then having to walk all the way to the bathroom.

Hrefna shook her head, what a horror walking 10 steps would be... She was a creature of habit, at least the few she could maintain with the planet under control of aliens.

She still didn't think it had entirely registered.

One step into any place with even the smallest camera or ADVENT presence and she would have an army on her in a matter of minutes. Like being popular but for all the wrong reasons... or right reasons in this case she supposed.

She curled up under the blanket, slowly drifting off to sleep.

A sleep without grass or trees.

Without clear night skies and silver moonlight.

A dream without strange unwelcome beings.

Hrefna sat in her quarters, looking over the mission reports and this mornings influx of supplies. They had finished additional 2 missions, recovered 13 ADVENT trooper corpses, along with a few sectoids and an officer. On top of that they had managed to salvaged a few crates of alien alloys, precious resources they would no doubt need for who knew how many projects. Only one soldier had gotten wounded during a raid, but it was nothing critical, seemed their ceramic, steel and Kevlar armour could still tank a shot or two. But, even if the rounds didn't penetrate the man was sent to medical with 3 broken ribs and a bruised lung.

But he would be fine, the facilities and equipment were good and they could reasonable treat anything including the more grievous wounds - Assuming they got them into treatment fast enough of cause.

Shen had gotten the Avenger flying, at 3:37 am. And Hrefna knew it was then because, as it turns out, none actually had a whole lot of experience with how the damm thing functioned. Hrefna had nearly tumbled out of bed as the ship suddenly went airborne. Bumping her chest on the nightstand woke her right up, but at least she still managed to get a few extra hours after she had calmed down and confirmed they were in fact, not under attack.

Hrefna hadn't said anything though. She knew the rest of the crew, Tygan and Central included, had made it very clear that tinkering with core components of the ship was to be planned ahead and not spontaneous things you do in the middle of the night.

Shen would be hearing about that a lot she suspected.

And they had, after a bit of trial and error landed near a resistance haven to the north. Exchanging supplies, resources and equipment and most importantly, 2 scientists and an engineer had agreed to join them. There were more, but the haven needed experienced personnel to keep facilities running as well. Hrefna still hadn't gotten confirmation but perhaps a few new recruits would leave with them too.

While Central was seeing to that Hrefna had going over reports and waiting for Shen and Dr. Tygan to arrive.

Hrefna lowered the data pad and blinked, a strange sensation grazing her. She looked towards the door - not knowing exactly why.

After a few seconds of staring there was a beeping signalling someone was outside. The small sound pulled her from her strange thoughts and she pressed a small button opening the door. It was Tygan and Shen, who both walked in giving a nod and "Hello Commander" respectively.

Hrefna got up from her chair and met them in the centre of them room.

"So, Shen first. Any chance we can adapt the ADVENT armour for our own use?"

Shen gave a conflicted expression before responding.

"The armour is too damaged to be of any real use aside from salvaging, the internal structure of the alloys is very fascinating though. I looked over some old projects and the report from our injured soldier and it gave me an idea for a lightweight 'Nano-scale' west. I made a few prototypes, it should provide extra shock absorption, help prevent some of the bruising from the impacts. It fits underneath the standard armour without adding too much weight too"

He was hit 2 days ago, Shen had made prototype in that time? Impressive.

"Excellent, we'll give them a field test on the next mission. Might throw in an order for a few more to be produced, but will need to see what our stockpile is at after this."

Shen nodded understandingly, from what Hrefna understood it couldn't have taken long to manufacture them, since it had only been a day or so since their last talk. Speaking of armour though...

"By the way, Shen"

"Yes commander?"

"I saw we had some rocket launchers down in the armoury, would prefer if we switched standard ammunition from high explosive to multi purpose HEAT rockets. We know ADVENT has armoured fighting vehicles and more heavily armoured forces in general. It's only a matter of time before we meet them on the battlefield. I'd prefer for us to be prepared for when that happens."

"I... hadn't actually thought of that. I'll need to go digging for some schematics but, I'll get production up and running as soon as possible"

"Good, if plausible we need to clean out some of the rooms on the Avenger as well, right now it's just deadweight and we desperately need the space for more facilities."

"Might put the new guy on that, or we'll switch a bit. Should be able to handle it along with the other 2 projects. Most of it is just, figuring out the designs and the printers will do the rest."

"I trust you'll figure it out just, give me an update once you have an eta."

"Will do commander"

With that rounded off she turned her attention over to Tygan, who had been following the conversation with a data pad tugged under one arm as usual.

"And Tygan, what projects do you have ready start?"

"Several Commander. We have 3 different autopsies to conduct, ADVENT trooper and officer along with a Sectoid. Those would at most take me 2-3 days to complete. We also have 2 recovered data pads to decrypt, although it is difficult to say how long it would take until we start the process. Other than that there is of cause the chip we removed from you, I've made... some progress on it but estimate another day at least."

Hrefna nodded a bit, that was... an impressive list.

"That all?" She asked jokingly.

"Well, we also have resistance communications to get online, there's a number of challenges we need to overcome before we can safely establish long range communications, without ADVENT detecting the signal." He delivered flatly, either missing or ignoring the joke. Hrefna moved a hand to her chin, going over the different options. It was a lot harder to prioritize than engineering, because there they just needed the resources to build things. With research they need time, valuable time that every project deserved.

The data pads could potentially be interesting but it was a gamble, not one she could afford right now. Solving communications was definitely important but... No, she knew what she would focus.

"Finnish up the work on the chip first, would be nice to finally get some answers-"

And maybe an explanation on all the things I've been seeing.

"- After that do the standard trooper autopsy. We need to figure out what their 'new' foot soldiers are capable off."

"Yes, I expected that would be a priority. I'll let you know soon as I have a report ready."

"Excellent, well I think that concludes things for now. If you need me don't hesitate to call. Oh and while I remember it, I want you two to be available during missions. You are both experts in your field and chances are you will see things I don't. I know this will potentially slow down projects but I believe it's worth it...Any objections?"

"None at all"

"No"

They both said at once.

And then all 3 of them looked to the left as her terminal beeped.

Hrefna saw a call was waiting. Then a message came through from Central. "Priority resistance communication coming through Commander."

Hrefna stared at the screen a bit, wondering who on earth would be calling and what 'priority resistance communication' even meant. Taking her eyes of the screen she returned her gaze to the two in front of her. "Good, I'll leave you two to it. Seems I have a call to take."

A nod of understanding and they were out the door again, leaving her alone in her quarters.

She sat down, accepting the call and watching as the connection was established.

The screen flickered on before revealing a familiar sight. A bald man, covered in shadows with bright orange and blue spotlights from behind.

"Hello Commander. The counsel you once knew is no more. It's membership have all sworn loyalty to the ADVENT administration. With one exception. It's good to see you again."

"Spokesman you're still alive."

"Yes although It has been, difficult. In the days since your capture, I have done all I can to aid the resistance from the inside. It was these resistance operatives that provided the intel leading to your recent extraction." As he spoke, snippets of what looked like security cam footage played on the screen, a closed room with screens and cables and... And a giant containment tube, housing a single individual, suspended in a stasis suit. Hrefna closed her eyes for a moment, to think that was her...for what 20 years? 20 years floating in a cell, what had happened?... she thought she remembered parts but, what was dream and what was memory was still impossible for her to sort.

She opened her eyes and focused on what he had said.

"Resistance operatives... so not X-COM?"

"No It was two independent groups, known as the Reapers and Skirmishers. Specialists in covert operations and ADVENT deserters respectively. They tracked you down and X-COM broke you out."

Hrefna resisted the urge to smack her forehead. Specialists in covert operations and ADVENT deserters. Maybe central could have told her of those. If they were the ones responsible for finding her, hidden away in an inconspicuous gene clinic in a random metropolis...

Yeah Hrefna definitely needed to speak with them. Never even considered that there would be deserters among the ADVENT ranks, but if humans could desert then why not aliens?

"How much do you know? Any clue why the aliens kept me there?"

"I am afraid not. I only managed to intercept fragments of information, it wasn't until operatives infiltrated the facility that we knew for sure you were even still alive. ADVENT went great lengths to keep you hidden."

She let out a sigh, so he knew as much as they did. Only one other question then.

"How are things looking for the resistance? And no bullshit."

There was a brief hesitation, but it could just have been her wording. There wasn't a council she needed to keep happy with fancy words, comforts and reassurances. Hrefna needed an overview so she could act accordingly, the more honest the better.

"The resistance forces are... disorganized. They needs leadership Commander, and your reputation alone might be enough to unite some of these groups. If we are to defeat ADVENT and their alien masters, you must act soon before it is too late."

Hrefna was about to comment but held her tongue as various alien files flashed on screen, pictures of people, either medical or civilian personnel files, and a lot of them.

"What you are seeing are classified reports of missing civilians from across the world. Their numbers are growing. We suspect they have been taken to a nearby ADVENT black site, though it's exact location remains unknown."

Missing civilians again? The aliens did the same the first time they attacked but...why now? They practically had full control of the planet, was it it just them bagging dissident civilians? There looked to be thousands of files at least, but considering it was an alien puppet state who had proven to be quite... petulant about dealing with public critique, well a few thousands over 20 years didn't seem unlikely. Now that Hrefna thought about it, it seemed quite low, for sure less than what she had expected. But then again, it was ADVENT. The Speaker likely had to go through who knew how many hoops to even get access to these. If he suspected there was something here, then she would look into it.

He was a source on the inside, any hints he gave would be worth a thorough investigation.

"Any chance you can transfer those files?"

"They are embedded in this channel, Tygan will see that they are secured. But Commander-"

He started, and Hrefna got a sense that was the end of the conversation.

"-Time is short. We need you to take charge of resistance operations throughout the world. Establish communications with the local cells, and bring them into the fold. Find this black site, and shut it down. The clock is ticking, good luck Commander."

And with that the link was cut, screen returning to it's usual X-COM background.

Hrefna leaned back in her seat. ADVENT black sites, missing civilians, and coordinated resistance groups. Well things certainly weren't be boring.

"Commander to the research lab, Commander to the research lab" the speaker loudly declared. Hrefna looked up from the inventory list, before giving Central a sideways look.

"Didn't know we had a coms system for that?"

"Oh we just got it up and running, not much use in calling you to the research labs if you're not on the Avenger." He answered nonchalantly, barely taking his eyes off the terminal he was at. Oh well, it was easier for her to move to research and engineering than It was for Tygan and Shen to drag whatever they had up to the bridge.

Well... Inventory could wait until later, wouldn't be relevant until they had to plan the next project for Shen and Tygan anyway. Hrefna made a quick note of how far she'd gone in the list before closing the tap for later.

"Fair enough. Well better go see what Tygan has for me. You got things here?"

He nodded "We have a few leads we need to sort through so no worries."

With that Hrefna stood up, stretching her back and holding back a grimace from the resulting pain stabbing her chest. At least she no longer had a pounding headache, and any weird stray feeling seemed to fade from her mind as she left the bridge and Central behind.

A slow climb later and she entered the science lab slash reactor room. Tygan was looking at a terminal but turned as she approached.

"Ah Commander good, I believe I've learned what I can from the chip as it is. I have a report filed but... Well, I wanted to explain some of it in person."

In all honesty Hrefna desperately wanted to know, but at the same time she couldn't imagine the answers being anything good. Still... only one way forward. "I'm all ears."

"My analysis reveals that it's primary function was that of a conduit, passing a vast amount of data directly to your cerebral cortex. With the primary connection severed, much of that data was lost. Several fragments do remain however, 'ghosts' if you will. Observe."

Tygan pressed a button and the screen blinked to life. Blurry images flashed by, shots, fleeing civilians, plasma and laser weapons blasting aliens and humans alike. Explosions and soldiers hiding behind cover, moving out and returning fire.

Hrefna cocked her head to one side, eyes narrowed slightly in confusion as she observed the screen. "I don't understand?" It was hard to place the exact location and date of the images but, Hrefna was sure it was from the first invasion. Most of them at least she thought as was looked like an advent trooper gunned someone down. But why? What use did her old memories have?

Tygan continued, with a carefully neutral tone to his voice. "Tactical combat simulations. Wargames. The sheer volume of encounters you were processing was astounding. It... It is truly remarkable that you survived as long as you did."

"Wait wait wait, I-" She stopped, not even sure how to formulate a question for what she wanted to know. "ADVENT used me to, what run combat simulations?"

Tygan simply nodded, data pad tugged in under one arm.

"From what I have gathered, yes. Though for what exact purpose I cannot say."

Hrefna studied his face for a moment. He looked calm and collected through clearly alert. But... he also seemed, fascinated? Or worried? Both made sense, and they it mirrored her own emotions at the moment. But there was still something, well several somethings that made no sense.

"Aside from the obvious of cause, why use... me? Why not use a computer? The aliens are far ahead of us in terms of technology, running combat simulations through me seems...almost ridicules." Hrefna shook her head "Why? Why go through all that?"

Dr. Tygan observed her for a moment before handing her the datapad. She gave it a quick look over and determined to be the rapport he mentioned. Hrefna briefly locked eyes with him- anticipation, and more worry.

Codename: Nano

With little time to prepare, we were forced to conduct an extremely invasive procedure on the Commander

She skipped ahead a few lines

...implant carefully enmeshed within the occipital lobe.

I already knew that.

...device was not designed for removal, concerns as to the Commander's potential longevity, and the risk of possible remote manipulation by the aliens left us with little alternative.

Remote manipulation? Well if it delivered information straight into her brain, and the aliens decided what information to send... Yeah no thanks.

...too early to say whether the Commander is experiencing any lasting effects from the procedure. Due to the complex nature of the chip unforeseen effects are possible, but despite my fears the Commander does appear to be recovering ahead of expectations.

Well that's something at least.

As for the chip itself my initial findings are alarming, to say the least. The device is Psionically-driven by the latent energy of the subject's brain, in this case, the Commander. More importantly, it appears the device functions as both a transmitter and receiver, relaying information via some form of Psionic link.

Even after removal, I've had to shield the device to contain the residual Psionic fields surrounding the implant itself, for fear of what it might be capable of.

If my current theory is correct, the Commander may have played a more important role in ADVENT's operations than we could possibly imagined

Hrefna read through it again,

"But that still doesn't... Why not..." She stopped, her mind kicking into gear going through all the little pieces. They used her for combat simulations, somehow the chip made them able to use her brain, probably just force fed her information that she solved without even thinking about it. Tygan seem very surprised that she even alive so it must've been a lot of simulations - but the questioned remained, why not use a machine? Why go through all the effort of capturing her, keeping her alive, making a stasis suit and a psionic chip- And that's when it clicked.

It's that simple isn't it?

"Machines cant be psionic." Hrefna spoke the words loud, without thinking too much about it. She almost felt silly for not having realized it sooner. Not that you could, she reminded herself. It was only now that she got the pieces needed to solve the puzzle.

"They can run combat simulations fine but they can't generate and interpret the psionic signal... so the aliens found something that could."

"Me."

"You."

They spoke at once.

Tygan was silently for a moment before slowly nodding. "That is the conclusion I came to as well, alarming I think you can agree."

"Yeah... But - so wait." She looked through the report again before reading a short part aloud. "The device is Psionically-driven by the latent energy of the subject's brain."

She waited a moment before

"If my current theory is correct then most humans posses some degree of psionic potential. After having gone over the chip I think it's save to say that you are among these, however to what degree I can't say."

Hrefna looked at nothing in particular for a moment, trying to process the new information. They had psionic soldiers during the first war, specifically chosen and trained based on latent potential but...

I were never tested - she reminded herself. If others could have latent powers then why not her? Besides they were just that, latent and not active. Rigorous training was needed to actually bring them forth.

"But there's one thing I don't get. Why? Why would they run combat simulations at all? The planet is under their control, has been for 20 years."

Tygan considered it for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. "Perhaps they were dissatisfied with their performance. Maybe they want better prepare for the next invasion. After all, they have shown themselves to be very precise in their designs and expectations."

She only gave a slight nod, "Perhaps."

"There might be more to it though, some 'good news' if you will." Tygan continued, pulling her back to the present. "You see, a lot of my own research was based on the design of this chip. It bears a striking resemblance to a medical implant I briefly assisted in developing at the Gene Therapy Clinic in New Providence."

"And you think they might be connected" She questioned, both relived and hesitant with this possibly being an even bigger mess than it already was.

"I believe so, you see. My understanding was that these implants were intended for high ranking ADVENT officers only, captains and above. And I feel gaining a grater understanding of these implants should be a priority, Commander."

"No disagreement here." Knowing was half the battle after all, if ADVENT officers used implants they might be able to use that to their advantage. Maybe they had a weakness, maybe they could be worked around or adapted for X-COM use somehow. In any case... Hrefna's eyes flickered from the floor to Tygan.

"But?"

He seemed caught off guard for a moment. Giving her a scrutinizing look before seemingly dismissing whatever thought had spawned. He blinked a few times before speaking in his usual tone.

"Yes. I uhm, I believe the Sectoid might give us some valuable insight into psionics. We don't have the files and data from the invasion Commander. If we wish to understand this, and it does seem to be an important part in the aliens plans, then I say this is where we start."

latent psionic and brain chip... both lead her mind to the same place asking the same questions, how and why?

Hrefna shifted her weight slightly. "And the test you took, any progress?"

"Oh yes, it ran in the background while I was working on the chip. The results however, well they are inconclusive." He said a bit apologetically.

"What does that mean?" How could looking for signs of alien bioengineering be inconclusive?

"It means, that for me to say for sure I would need a larger sample size." He explained calmly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Oh.

"You need to stab me again?"

His eyes grew wide in surprise. Hrefna sent him a smile that was all teeth.

"Stab you...? Oh blood test? No, what I mean is that I need to cross reference with genetic sequences from the various aliens. I did find a few outliners but - As things are now, it is difficult for me to determine if these are the result of genetic engineering or simply naturally occurring mutations. However were I to find similar sequences in some of the alien forces..." He gave a half nod in conclusion "We would know for sure."

Hrefna simply nodded.

"Makes sense, So Sectoid or ADVENT officer. Why do things have to be this complicated... "

"I do not envy having to make decisions like these, but it is why you are here."

Hrefna let a small chuckle escape her, looking over the various screens and tables in the room. "That it is, that it is." She considered for a moment more, before giving the order.

"Do the Officer autopsy next, need to know if those chips are related. And if they are... well might as well see if we can use it against them."

Tygan nodded "I'll let you know when It's done."

Next chapter is already in the works, but it looks like it will be equally massive so gonna take some time before it's ready.

Let me know what you think, reviews help a lot with motivation. I have a million + ideas but actually sitting down and writing is the hard part.