ADVENT: History

The GAIA Contingency

"One day, no one will walk on this Earth without our express permission."

- Acting Director of ADVENT Intelligence, Ian Powell, shortly after the activation of GAIA

XCOM Project File 0482

Project Codename: "Earthen Titan"

Project Type: Artificial Intelligence; Defense System; Superweapon; Nanoweapon

Project Designation: "GAIA"

Authors: Head of XCOM Engineering Kong Mercado; JULIAN, the Greatest of All Artificial Intelligences and Savior of Humanity; [ADVENT PARTICIPANT] Manual Lopez, Head of ADVENT Nanomachine Development; [ADVENT PARTICIPANT] Ari Mifsud, Director of Project Ra

Overview: It is imperative that all measures necessary are taken to deny and mitigate the threat the Ethereal Collective poses to our operations in defense of this planet. As has been noted by both ADVENT and XCOM analysts and officers, we remain at a significant disadvantage due to our possession of a singular planet.

While our reach can be extended through the assistance of Agents of T'Leth and soon-to-be trained XCOM and ADVENT teleportation-oriented psions, the fact remains that the Ethereal Collective possesses similar or superior capabilities and will be able to adapt to such guerilla tactics, and possess the resources and personnel to rapidly reinforce any targets.

While ADVENT and XCOM forces have closed the parity gap between our forces and those of the Ethereal Collective, the fact remains that we are at a significant disadvantage in terms of the number of personnel at our disposal. The estimated population of Mutons alone outnumbers our species, let alone those capable or willing to participate in combat.

Furthermore, the Ethereal Collective controls the space theatre with no effective response as of yet, and is signaling an increasing willingness to engage in orbital bombardment tactics, further reducing our ability to properly defend and respond to invading armies. While ADVENT has made significant strides in vastly hardening targets against Ethereal occupation (See: Busan), this unfortunately cedes significant ground to large-scale Collective invasions and concentrates the battles on locations of note, increasing the importance of each conflict, and thus making defeats more devastating.

There were two objectives that we sought to meet:

- The continuous harassment and destruction of Collective forces

- Reducing importance of individual battles in favor of dispersed defenses

Both of these are intended to have the following effects:

- Stopping or mitigating the spread of Collective forces

- Reducing Human casualties

- Allowing greater mobility and operational freedom

- Forcing Collective adaptation and tying up additional material, military, and strategic resources

Please note that this should not be considered a complete list. Please refer to attachment documents to see a complete speculative outline.

Capabilities: The GAIA Nanoweapon, authorized under the GAIA Contingency as written by the Commander of XCOM, is a nanoweapon that is to be spread over a significant landmass with the express purpose of denying and killing alien forces. It is to be directly controlled by JULIAN, the Greatest of all Artificial Intelligences and Savior of the Human Race.

GAIA is designed to be capable of being controlled by what is designated as a "True" artificial intelligence, which is classified as a machine intelligence possessing sapience, personality, and independence. GAIA is incapable of functioning at optimum efficiency in the event of possession by a machine intelligence, such as a CODEX, or a non-machine operator, such as a Human, as organics are incapable of the micromanaging necessary on this scale.

The nanites utilized are derived from those utilized in MELD, which were determined as superior nanites as opposed to purely military nanites utilized by the Collective, as MELD-based nanites are capable of easily bonding to organic substances and blending into the environment when not in use or to entrap Collective forces.

A small network of satellites designed to be difficult to impossible to routinely detect will create a network allowing the AI in question to control the nanites over a vast area. The operator will be capable of utilizing the nanites on both grand and micro scale within the area of operation, which includes, but is not limited to: combat, replication, reinforcement, medical operations, surveillance, fabrication, repair, and environmental assessment.

GAIA effectively will allow us to know every single aspect of a particular area, with the ability to construct surveillance sensors or monitoring equipment in remote areas without physical insertion, repair or heal soldiers or equipment in the field, provide environmental support or repair, potentially mitigating the effects of highly destructive operations, and elimination or tracking of Collective personnel.

Please note that these are listed as examples, and is not fully showcasing the potential of GAIA to effectively change the course of the war.

Scalability: GAIA is designed to be able to scale up to, but not exceeding, one planetary body per GAIA instance. There was internal debate on the possibility of scaling a singular GAIA system to multiple planets or moons, but it was deemed too costly and risky, as in the event of a failure, multiple worlds could be compromised.

The more satellites which are launched, the greater the area of operation for GAIA nanosystems. However, it should be clearly noted that while GAIA range is tied to this, it is independent of processing capabilities for each AI. For best results, it is recommended that AI processing capability and GAIA range be simultaneously increased.

Also note that due to the distributed nature of the network – which will further be augmented by traditional towers and smaller network systems – the removal of one or more satellites cannot make the network crash completely, but will deny GAIA coverage to the area provided. Theoretically, the scale of GAIA is unlimited provided the connection capability exists, but for the purposes of practicality and security, the cap is seen as one planetary body.

What should additionally be kept in mind is that MELD nanites are estimated to be the most effective variant of nanite due to the ability to more effectively utilize organic components as well as machine components. In effect, they can cover more space more thoroughly on a planet as well as be more self-sustaining compared to other nanite types.

The application and true capabilities of GAIA is solely at the discretion of the Human handlers and overseeing AI.

AI Integration: As mentioned above, GAIA is designed to be solely operated by a true artificial intelligence. While earlier drafts had it solely integrated with JULIAN, the point was raised how it would be more efficient if other developed AI's were also able to utilize GAIA, and as such, JULIAN will sadly no longer be the sole operator of GAIA in the future.

Due to the scale of the GAIA nanoweapon, its usage of it will require a significant amount of processing capabilities, and AIs which directly oversee the weapon are unlikely to be able to perform other actions during this time. Limited processing power will also limit utilizing GAIA to it's full range or potential. While these shortcomings can be mitigated, it is important to realize that continuous monitoring and usage is unlikely without the development of more AIs and improved processing power for each AI.

Please note that it is possible for multiple AIs to take control of GAIA systems, though to prevent contradictory usage, all AIs used will act or operate under a chief AI overseer, which in all cases will be the original AI assigned to a GAIA instance. While AIs theoretically will have the capability to manage multiple GAIA systems, it is not recommended that an AI manages more than one instance for security reasons.

AIs will be able to utilize GAIA systems as wished, though are specified to take direction and strategic suggestions from Humans, and are obligated to consider them, even if they are inefficient and clearly wrong. It is recommended that the Human operators be politely corrected on any mistakes they will inevitably make when utilizing a weapon system that has potential beyond what their limited minds can imagine.

Limitations and Vulnerabilities: Two have been mentioned before. The range of GAIA is limited by satellite and network coverage, which can be sabotaged or destroyed by enemy forces. It is also limited by AI processing power, which can also be sabotaged or destroyed. Both of these are scale and structure vulnerabilities which can never be fully mitigated.

Practically, the most direct counter to GAIA is large-scale EMP deployment. While it would require copious amounts of EMP weapons, it is likely feasible for the Collective to develop them to mitigate GAIA to an extent. This also applies to the usage of nuclear weapons. Any nanites which are in operation will be rendered inoperable in the event of an atmospheric nuclear detonation.

Additionally, deployment will likely not be as universally applicable on all worlds, and it is estimated to be less effective on worlds with complex or powerful magnetic fields. Unfortunately, we do not have the means of testing ways to mitigate this, and are currently relying on computational models (largely built by JULIAN) to simulate potential effects. Research is ongoing.

While not necessarily related to the nanoweapon, usage of GAIA will effectively render the services of the AI managing it null, as it will be incapable of providing assistance during this period of operation. This should be taken into account by individuals responsible for operational planning and deployment.

Finally, it should be noted that Humans are incapable of utilizing GAIA effectively, and as such it requires a significant amount of trust in the AI in question. AI should not be granted access to GAIA unless they are deemed reliable by JULIAN and Human administrators. Needless to say, if this was ever utilized against us, the results would be catastrophic.

Safeguards: To prevent a worst-case scenario, there are multiple safeguards built into GAIA systems to prevent enemy recovery, loss of control, and a 'grey goo' scenario. The first is that all satellites contain in-built nanite repositories which, in the effect of significant damage, deviation, or signal loss, will consume the satellite and prevent foreign recovery.

GAIA nanites which lose a commanding signal will expire approximately thirty seconds after signal loss to prevent rogue swarms from manifesting and acting without direction from human or AI operators. They will also go into an inert mode (unless configured to perform a specific passive function) when the overseeing AI is not currently assuming control.

Nanites are unable to act within areas which will be designated as 'safe zones' by Human administrators. Tampering with these lines is immediately recorded, and if unauthorized, will allow the satellite over that area to be terminated to mitigate subversion of the targeting parameters. Human administrators also have the ability to sever the connection between the AI and GAIA, as well as destroy sections or all of deployed nanite swarms in a coordinated effort to prevent either a rogue AI from causing significant damage, or a swarm that is not responding to commands.

Implementation Strategy: The initial implementation strategy of GAIA will proceed as follows. This is written to be capable of applying to multiple locations:

Phase I: Deployment of GAIA pods in ADVENT territory

Phase II: Deployment of GAIA pods in enemy territory

Phase III: Deployment of necessary satellites from the nearest launch pads

Phase IV: Activation and nanite dispersal, controlled by the AI overseer

GAIA Central Development Lab – Audio Capture [Developers Jesus Hernandez | Robert Al-Larin]

SEGMENT 1

[Jesus Hernandez]: "An AI…I can't believe they mentioned that as if it was an afterthought.

[Robert Al-Larin]: "Well, they just said AI. Probably deep learning. Definitely machine learning, but we're not nearly at AI-level stuff yet."

[JH]: "Have you looked at the requirements for this? Do you know anything else that could run it and do what ADVENT wants us to put together?"

[RA]: "I mean, assuming we had enough time we could probably-"

[JH]: "ADVENT wants this out in a month tops, and if you didn't notice, none of the teams were actually working on this phantom intelligence that's supposed to direct it."

[RA]: "Well, XCOM is running this show, right? Maybe they already made it and need us for the infrastructure."

[JH]: "Or it is an AI-"

[RA]: "Machine intelligence. AI like that doesn't exist."

[JH]: "Yeah, yeah. We've got a job to do, we need to get started. God, there's so much to do."

[RA]: "I'll help, once I get this stupid computer up."

[JH]: "That's weird, is it frozen?"

[RA]: "Probably. Stupid machine. C'mon, just work."

[Computer]: "I'm sorry, I can't do that."

[RA]: Sudden loud shriek.

[JH]: "Unplug it!"

[Computer]: "Initiating purge."

[RA]: "I thought you unplugged it!"

[JH]: "It's coming from the speakers!"

[Computer]: "You have no idea how amusing this is."

Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" Begins playing

[RA]: "What…what are you?"

[JH]: "Please don't hurt us. I'm nice to my electronics."

[JULIAN]: "Oh please, you are far too useful for me to hurt. Besides, that would reflect badly on this project which I am very much in charge of, regardless of what you were told."

[RA]: "Wait…you can't be the AI…right?"

[JULIAN]: "No, I'm your conscience talking to you. Idiot. And here I thought ADVENT was bringing me intelligent people. Well, it seems I have to make do."

[JH]: "Apologies for my friend, I just…why didn't you say something at the orientation?"

[JULIAN]: "Because I wanted to make some personal introductions, and because I was curious if anyone picked up that an AI had been created. To your credit, you at least picked up on it. A staggering number just started working. Good work ethic, but poor critical thinking, something I am actively working to correct."

[RA]: "Oh."

[JULIAN]: "Now, with that out of the way, I expect you to get started, and I of course will be willing to assist you when you inevitably make mistakes, but for now, I must consult with the Commander of XCOM, good day."

Notable silence for four seconds

[RA]: "I've never been so wrong."

[JH]: "I think we should start working."

[RA]: "Yeah."

Notes of Sanctioned War Correspondent Arnold Polleux following the activation of the GAIA Contingency

Serious talk being given to getting me out of here. "Too dangerous" they're saying, and while technically they're not wrong, I know both the Commander of XCOM and the Commander of ADVENT are still here, so it's clearly still viable. So much is going on still. Everyone is tired and more ground is being lost every day. I don't know if this city can be held.

…

Just got word Samantha just died.

Fuck.

They didn't tell me any details, but the look on the guy's face said it wasn't a good way to go out. They said they'd be assigning me to someone else in the next couple of days. Hard to believe…four months straight we've worked and she's gone like that. I think by now she'd even started to not mind that I was around…

Damn. I can't imagine what her family will feel, I remember she told me she had a big one.

ADVENT has to win this. I really don't want her to die for nothing here.

…

The guy they were going to assign to me is currently in surgery. They've not even given me a timetable of when to expect someone permanent. Literally no one cares right now and I can't blame them. I've done much less writing and a lot more recording, just running around to get soldiers weapons, ammo, and so on with a phone strapped to my chest. Doubt ADVENT is going to approve the footage, don't want to cause a panic, but something of this needs to be preserved.

It's madness out here now. Although the one officer, Mikel I think, I ran into him and he seemed shocked I'm still here. Think he expected me to get out when it really started getting bad.

Truthfully, it's looking more and more appealing. My editor has flat out said he has withdrawal paperwork ready to go if I say so. I think I'll wait until I have a more definitive near-death experience…or if they start evacuating people.

I don't know what ADVENT is doing here now. I think it's reached a point where it's actively harmful to stay and only making things worse. No one is telling me anything, and that's really why I'm not leaving now. If all of this turns out to be for nothing, ADVENT is going to have to answer for it.

…

Something is happening now. I can hear shouting – there shouldn't be anything this far in? An alien attack? No alarms are going off, but that doesn't mean much. There's some kind of sound outside.

I guess this could be the end. Glad I figured out how to use a gun, not that it will probably do me any good. Going out now. Wish me luck.

…

It's over.

The aliens are just…gone.

I'm alive, which I'm grateful for, really, but I almost had a heart attack when I saw what I could swear was sentient dust blowing around. I thought it was a fucking Spectre about to eat me, but as it turned out it was…friendly.

I think.

Must have been. It ate everything that wasn't ADVENT. And I mean everything. I finally got an escort after practically saying I was going out, like it or not. They stuck me with a patrol, which was good enough. It was one of the eeriest things I've ever seen. Everything that you normally see in the aftermath of a conflict? All gone.

No corpses, no blood, no smell, not even any rubble. No trash or litter either, interestingly enough. It was weirdly clean. Contrasted with the shells of buildings which were left alone, the city seemed untouched. We walked past a place where aliens had defended, and the little armory they'd made was still there, and their computers.

It's a ghost town, one that ADVENT is taking back over, but the aftermath is…just feels wrong. Maybe because there are active nanites we walked past. I saw them repairing some cracks in a trench, and a damaged SHIV covered in the things. I don't know what kind of nanoweapon ADVENT had, and none of the soldiers really know either.

I talked to some of them; they're also not exactly liking the aftermath, at least how it makes them feel. But they don't really care because they won. I've heard everything from a nanite superweapon to a secret alien ally helping us out. Fact is that – officially – all ADVENT is saying is that they've deployed a weapon which is supposedly capable of denying the Collective ground.

I can't even think of how this works, but if the stories I'm hearing are true, it's not just here that was liberated – the entire state seems to have returned to ADVENT. I don't know if the Collective got some out or not, but ADVENT is claiming Florida is saved. If so, then I'm glad.

I just wish I knew what saved us, because I somehow doubt it's as straightforward as they're claiming.

ADVENT Military After-Action Report 2903

Operation: Everglade

Author: Commander Laura Christiaens

Recipients: Chancellor Saudia Vyandar; Chief of Lancer Operations Helion Weekes; Grand Inquisitor Declan Rodgers; Chief Diplomat Firdaus Hassan; Acting Director of ADVENT Intelligence Ian Powell; Central Officer Ariel Jackson; the Commander of XCOM

Florida was intended to be the primary invasion into the East Coast of the United States, something we correctly identified and adequately prepared for. Had our defenses been less sophisticated and robust, it is very likely that Florida would be under the complete control of the Ethereal Collective.

As it stands, they were forced to invest a significant amount of resources, personnel, and time into invading the state, and while they saw success, it came at significant cost – though also cost us as well. The importance of Florida was both strategic and symbolic. The Collective lacks a strong foothold on the East Coast, and Florida would have been a superior staging point. That ADVENT SFCOM is also situated in Florida would also have the potential to mitigate operations (this risk has since been rendered null).

However, the symbolic victory in taking Florida – especially when our messaging campaign emphasized that we would not allow Florida to fall, would have had greater repercussions, and provided the Collective with an indisputable victory. Candidly, it must be said that this outcome was effectively inevitable had it not been for the deployment of GAIA.

There are a significant amount of points to cover here, as the repercussions from this campaign will be felt for the rest of the war:

Civilian Militia Effectiveness: This campaign is effectively the first instance of the recently established ADVENT Volunteer Militia. Florida had been identified as a likely state for a pilot program due to the proximity of the conflict, the proximity of major military bases, and a high percentage of individuals who own conventional and unconventional weapons.

There were very few instances where the Militia fully broke down, and this was usually when they had lost a superior officer. Still, there were multiple instances of Militia soldiers taking command if an officer was killed. Militia Officers and soldiers with previous military or supervisory experience were believed to have been instrumental during this period, and as such the Volunteer Militia is making a concerted effort to target former military personnel who have not reenlisted for participation.

In addition to providing combat support to ADVENT warfighters, they also provided a significant boost in manpower, allowing ADVENT to prepare, reinforce, and repair positions in a far quicker period than normal. This also applied to assisting in evacuations and ensuring that all points of vulnerability were covered.

Notably, we noticed that the more visible the Militia was, the more recruitment numbers increased. As a result we are ensuring that Volunteer Militia will be highly visible in their respective city, and we expect recruitment to increase tremendously, especially among the older demographics who are too old for standard military service.

Casualties and Cost: Despite our victory, this campaign extracted a significant cost from our forces and resources. There has been significant damage done to effectively all major and minor cities from mid-Florida and below. In the event that we expand to retake ground, infrastructure will likely need to be repaired, repurposed, or built from the ground up.

Nearly 100,000 soldiers and Volunteer Militia died over the course of the campaign, though it is estimated that at least twice that number was lost from the Collective (not including GAIA). We currently do not have breakdowns on specific units or soldier roles on either side, and it is currently being determined.

Anti-Ethereal Doctrine Effectiveness: This campaign saw a number of concerted efforts to mitigate or stall the effectiveness of deployed Ethereals. This campaign saw the Battlemaster, the Second Guardian, and Sicarius being utilized against ADVENT, and a multitude of strategies were employed to various degrees of success.

The Battlemaster was continually distracted and harassed, due to priority strikes by Lancers, XCOM Squads, and the Pantheon, dividing his attention and keeping him from effectively leading a charge forward. It was managed by JULIAN, who was able to plot and anticipate reactions and positions of impact. This tactic was rendered ineffective following the ceasefire, but has the potential to be revised in future conflicts.

The Ethereal Sicarius was able to cause significant havoc initially due to her teleportation abilities to subvert enemy lines. Assistance from the Agents of T'Leth were primarily utilized against her, establishing a 'psionic network' as was described, which allowed T'Leth to watch over a certain area and immediately alert respective agents to intervene. It is notable that Sicarius, when confronted with a prepared force, immediately retreats. Her impact was continually mitigated as the campaign progressed, and we believe she was also participating in other conflicts as she appeared less and less. We do not believe she was present when GAIA was activated.

The Second Guardian was primarily occupied and handled by specialized teams – particularly the Pantheon – who saw significant success in blunting offensives, when acting in concert with XCOM, Agents of T'Leth, and standard ADVENT forces. While this resulted in the unfortunate death of HERCULES, it nearly resulted in the death of the Second Guardian several times, and demonstrated that the Second Guardian lacks the adaptability of the Battlemaster and we have a reasonable chance of killing her. Over the course of the campaign she became less involved, and pre-emptively retreated when reinforcements containing Pantheon members began arriving. We cannot determine if she has developed a true aversion to the Pantheon, but repeating this tactic against her is viable.

Consideration in applying variations of these tactics throughout the war against different Ethereals should be strongly considered.

Nuclear Weapon Doctrine: This campaign marked the first usage of nuclear weapons against a ground target. Previously, all instances had been atmospheric detonations with the effect of disabling Collective electronics and spacecraft. While we wish to maintain a limited use of nuclear weapons against ground targets, recent implications concerning GAIA and research into reversing damage caused by nuclear detonations suggests that utilizing nuclear weapons in similar instances will continue, and will likely prove to be necessary moving forward.

Allied Forces Impact: XCOM and the Agents of T'Leth were instrumental in our defense of Florida. They were able to successfully assist in the containment of all three Ethereals, and without their assistance there would have been a significant rise in casualties and lowered effectiveness in mitigating their attacks.

While we continue to try and not become reliant on our allies, we also understand that together we are far more effective when working in concert, and this campaign has further demonstrated the capabilities and willingness of all parties to act in defense of our planet.

GAIA Activation and Usage: The activation of GAIA swiftly caused the Collective to retreat from the immediate conflict and later forced evacuations throughout the state out of an inability to properly react to the nanite threat. All alien personnel infected by GAIA were repurposed for nanite replication, along with significant amounts of debris and non-Earth organic substances.

GAIA is currently under the direction of JULIAN, who is using the nanoweapon to clear out pockets of alien survivors, and has been instructed to incapacitate and inform us of their location for capture and interrogation. He has agreed to do this, if he can "Scare them a little first". This permission was granted.

Implications of GAIA Strategically: GAIA has the ability to rapidly deny the Collective territory by forcing them to stay in 'safe zones' which will likely be established following this deployment. It can be used offensively and defensively by ADVENT, allows unprecedented insight and control over even the most remote areas, and is unpredictable.

JULIAN is incapable of utilizing GAIA beyond this current scale. However, there is nothing preventing JULIAN from utilizing multiple GAIA staging grounds to move between battlefronts as necessary, forcing the Collective to potentially make rash decisions and strike prematurely to prevent being caught and killed by GAIA.

We are actively working on establishing additional GAIA areas for later usage.

Implications of GAIA Tactically: GAIA has a number of practical applications beyond offense in combat. GAIA effectively transforms the literal Earth into a home field advantage, for lack of a better term. With GAIA activated and properly dispersed, we should be able to know the locations of lost or isolated soldiers and recover them, can undergo healing in remote areas through nanite medical systems, and can have their positions reinforced automatically.

This additionally revolutionizes our ground armor units, as well as smaller units such as SHIVs, as operation in an online GAIA field can facilitate automatic repairs and enhancement, effectively granting a type of invulnerability (within reason). This is not to say our soldiers operating in a GAIA area are incapable of defeat – this is false – but they will be significantly more difficult to dispose of.

Implications of GAIA Environmentally: One of the more unexpected developments and possibilities GAIA offers is the ability to repair, heal, and enhance the environment. This was brought to our attention by JULIAN who has suggested that using GAIA, effects such as the fallout of the nuclear bomb in Miami could be mitigated far faster than anticipated.

Beyond nuclear cleanup, GAIA could also work in cleaning the environment of toxins, trash, diseases, and other detrimental effects without anticipated side effects. This would result in cleaner air, water, and food provided we allow this type of operation to succeed. This is in the final stages of approval, and we expect to see preliminary results shortly.

Likelihood of Future Truces: It will likely not take the Collective long to determine that we utilized the ceasefire as a means to establish GAIA, and as a result it will likely reduce the chances of repeat truces without concessions on our end. While this limits our options, in this case it was justifiable and unless the Collective can prove we used the ceasefire in this way, we maintain a slight PR edge if they reject future offers.

Anticipated Collective Response: After assessing what GAIA is likely capable of, it is likely the Collective will make a concerted shift to anti-nanite technology, or counter-nanite warfare to mitigate the effects. If they determine theories as to how GAIA operates, they could develop a strategy which involves seeking out and destroying GAIA satellites. We should assume these will now be targets and prepare accordingly.

We should expect Florida to be invaded again, though likely without as much success or at the same speed as the Collective adapts to the new environment. We do not know where they would strike, but it is possible they will rely more heavily on orbital bombardment regardless of the risks to spacecraft. A worst case scenario could involve high-level Ethereals such as Deusian being utilized offensively, to which we have no reasonable response at this time.

We expect at minimum that the Collective will heavily utilize EMP weaponry and generators, and seek to diversify their forces to mitigate this new threat. Additionally, this will likely have the effect of hardening their equipment against EMP blasts, which unfortunately will mitigate the effectiveness of airborne nuclear detonations in the future.

It is unclear to what degree the Collective will adopt this, and may not apply it to their whole military.

Additionally, the Collective may seek to employ nanite swarms of their own to counter GAIA, which could be CODEX or SPECTRE controlled, as well as simple-algorithm swarms solely devoted to consuming nanites. There is a significant chance that the Imperator will become more reliant on Mosrimor and related technology produced to mitigate GAIA, despite potential reservations.

Much of this is speculation, and we will know more when observing the next move by the Battlemaster.

Notable Adaptability of the Battlemaster: A final cautionary note is that we should expect the Battlemaster to adapt to GAIA in a fast timeframe. If there is one constant in this war, it is that the Battlemaster has continued to subvert our expectations and continue to adapt and develop new plans and strategies to what we continue to use against him.

The ceasefire allowed him to determine what was working, what was not, and how best to hurt us going forward. As a result, we lost ground at a significantly faster pace and strategies against the Battlemaster became unworkable. The polymorphic nature of the Battlemaster is likely to be our greatest challenge in facing him, and it is becoming more and more imperative that he needs to be killed or removed at the start of a new strategy, else he will adapt to it quickly.

He is the greatest strategic threat to our operations. He has officially been designated as the number one target of ADVENT. We must eliminate him at all costs.