Summary: After a meeting with the leader of the Sanguine Shrapnel, Bradford gives Jynn another tour of the Avenger as the doctors lift some restrictions.

"And I must say… I feel like I recognize you, Dr. Sighn."

"The feeling is mutual." A silvery male voice said before a deep laugh came out. "Though I must say, Commander Reeves, you look quite different. And call me Rajan. That's what Raymond called me."

Commander Reeves was in the middle of her meeting with the leader of the Sanguine Shrapnel, Rajan Sighn. And what a meeting it was becoming. Rajan knew of XCOM, and had close ties to their old Chief Engineer. He was an old associate of Dr. Shen. Really, Shen was a mentor to him in his younger days and helped usher him into his budding career in robotics and AI development., All before the world went to hell.

He wasn't quite the person she was expecting to see running the faction. From how her uncle Vickers and Issa implied he was harsh and a terror, Rajan was actually a rather chill man. An old man. He had a long salt and pepper beard hung from his face. A face aged by not only time but also stress. He wore a red turban that had several pieces of metal jewelry that lined and hung from it.

"I've… been the Elders' slave for the past twenty years." She didn't know why, but she felt comfortable sharing that.

"Haven't we all." He shook his head. "I can only imagine what horrors they inflicted on you, from what your uncle has told me. And is that man really your uncle?"

"They've inflicted a lot." She did her best to hold back a sigh. But hearing how he spoke of her uncle made her laugh. "And we're related through marriage…. A short marriage, but it got rid of a horrible aunt and I gained a great uncle."

"He is an interesting character."

"Interesting barely describes the man." A robotic voice butted in. His AI, Mer. Occasionally flying into the frame of Rajun's camera was a repurposed security drone. Mer enjoyed commandeering one of the drones to fly around in her creators' quarters and be more "in person" when he had video calls. She was an interesting AI.

She learned how his life had gone since the Elders subjugated the Earth. He was lucky to have survived the Invasion and soon came under the employ of the Elders once They had the world. They quickly put him, and many others, to work on refining the designs of the ADVENT MECS. Designs, he felt like he had recognized. He took a risk, but he combed through ADVENT's data banks to see who was the creator of the original designs. Raymond Shen. He was angry when he found out, but held it in. He didn't want his head on a platter. But, a few years later, he caught wind that another division of theirs had lost control of the main production plant for the MECs to a rogue AI that once ran the facility. Though many innocent lives were lost, he couldn't help but smile. Ah, karma. Commander Reeves took a quick note of this. Something for XCOM to investigate when they had the time.

As Rajan continued working for ADVENT, he grew tired of it. What the Elders taught was a lie. His memories of the Invasion were still clear as day. He lost so much. He missed his family. So, he was looking for a way out. By this time, they had him working on some AIs that would automate certain facilities and MEC variations. And he had an idea. All inspired by the facility that was lost ages ago. And his little pet project would be of some help. Mer. One of the AIs he had been working on. A rather quirky AI and currently the one keeping all the robots Sanguine Shrapnel owned under control and running like a well-oiled machine.

After gathering the help of other like-minded people who were tired of the Elders' ever-tightening control on their lives, Rajan sprung his plan. He gave Mer administrative access to the entire facility and turned the systems against their ADVENT enslavers. She quickly took over all the MECs there and used them to attack the guards. It was a slaughter and threw the entire facility in disarray. During all the chaos, he and the others escaped. Of course, after he retrieved Mer and wiped the data banks to the facility.

Once they were somewhere safe, they removed those civilian chips and trackers implanted into their shoulders. It was a painful, but simple task. But those brain chips. Those bloody brain chips. Why did the Elders have to make those things? Those would be harder to get out. One of his fellow scientists figured out a way to scramble the chip and kill it. Left everyone who felt comfortable doing it with a killer headache, but it worked. Removing them would come at another time when they could have access to well-trained surgeons and sterile medical rooms.

But Rajan chose to keep his chip active. He wanted to see if he could hack its signal to see if he could connect with his AI. It took a lot of work, cybernetic body modification, and knocked him into a coma twice, but they were able to adjust the chip so he could connect with Mer. And now, he could interface with the other robots they had.

"If any of your people ever need replacements for a lost limb, feel free to contact us, Reeves." Rajan made the generous offer whilst showing off his left hand. Completely cybernetic with white plating. And looked a lot more advanced and modern than the Floater arm her uncle had. He told her Vikers was too stubborn to allow him to upgrade his old arm. And then he somewhat feared Rajan wouldn't use any anesthesia because of some trouble Vickers had caused years ago. Rajan only chuckled after he told all of that.

"Thank you for the offer, Rajan. I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Commander Reeves hoped they would never have to take up the offer, but she knew how the war could go. It was like their MEC troopers back in the day. Some only volunteered for the project if they suffered life-threatening wounds and no treatments could save them.

"Also, I will get you in contact with our Chief Engineer Lily Shen. I believe we can trade technologies and data."

"Ah, An-Yi's alive?" His eyes lit up as he heard the name. "And she followed in her father's footsteps? Ah, I can only imagine she's making him proud. He is smiling down at her."

"She is. Continuing her father's work every day."

"Ah, I cannot wait to speak to her!"

After hashing out a few other details, the meeting soon came to an end, and the two gave their farewells.

Commander Reeves leaned back in her seat.

"Well, that was a surprise." She quietly chuckled to herself. "Wish you were here, Dr. Shen, and could see everything we are doing…" She closed her eyes. "Thank you for working on this ship. We won't let your work go to waste."

She kept her eyes closed for a few more minutes. She needed a small break after that meeting.

But as she was relaxing, she felt a tickle in the back of her mind. She winced as it grew and transitioned into a headache.

Return to Us. A voice faintly rang in her head. She frowned.

Return to Us. The voice, now voices, grew. And they felt so familiar to her.

Return to Us, Commander Reeves.

"No. No. No." She muttered. Her mind was quickly figuring it out. The touch. The voices. It felt like the Elders. She had to be imagining things. Yes, that was it. imagining things. She had been up for quite a while.

But the voices continued to grow in her mind and so did the headache. She started to break out into a sweat.

"Commander." This voice sounded different. Sounded like it came from the outside. Then she felt something give her shoulder a hearty shake. She let out a slight gasp as her eyes flew open.

"Commander… Jynn… are you alright?" It was Bradford.

She whipped her head around. "Huh? Oh yes! I think I just nodded off. Was resting my eyes." She nervously smiled.

"Hm?" He raised a brow, taking note of the sweat on her head. "Need a break before the tour?"

"Oh, no, no!" Hearing the word "tour" made her spring to her feet. She was dying to do this ever since the doctors had cleared her to do more around the ship."It's just a tour around the more restricted parts of the ship. The 'proper' tour'." She used air quotes.

Bradford shook his head but laughed. "Yes, the 'proper tour'." He mimicked her air quotes. "Let's get started, but first a bit to eat for you. Don't think you've had breakfast or lunch."

"I don't have much of an appetite, but I'll try to eat something."

As the two left, Commander Reeves' mind drifted back to what she felt and heard in her mind. It didn't sit well with her. Just what the heck was that?

After getting a bite to eat, Bradford showed Jynn around the more restricted parts of the ship. Armory, Shooting Range, the more dangerous Labs, and more. She was enjoying every second of it. Reminded her so much of her tour around the old XCOM base back in the day.

There were a few moments when the Commander's sudden appearance spooked the crew. Not everyone had had a chance to properly meet her, and she still had a bit of a ghastly appearance. She expected that and wasn't too bothered by it. Bradford, on the other hand, was annoyed, even more so when he heard some of the names the crew called her.

"They still say that?" Bradford was doing his best to hold his anger in as they were walking.

"Along with 'walking corpse', 'walking ghost', 'zombie', and another slew of names." She chuckled, and then a snort came out. "Oh, and a new one. 'Lost thing'." She laughed. She was taking it all in good stride.

"Great…" He, on the other hand, frowned. He wasn't as amused as she was. "Need to get that to stop."

"John, it'll eventually stop." She really didn't care at this point. It was the least of her worries.

As he was taking her to the next destination, they got onto the subject of some people they had on the ground around the world who were working on uniting the Resistance cells in various regions.

"So we've — you guys — have also been sending people out around the globe to get the resistance together?" Jynn asked in between bites of a piece of jerky she was devouring.

"Yes. Contact with some has been sporadic, but it helps us get connected with the little guys faster when we move." He nodded. "Also helps us when we can trade soldiers and staff off and on when they get 'tired' of the ship."

"Huh. Smart." She nodded approvingly. Sounded like they had mini-bases set up. A far cry from what they had in the old days, but it was better than nothing. "Was thinking of facilitating something like that. Don't want to keep all our eggs in one basket."

"Learned from you." He lightly punched her shoulder.

"Hey." She laughed and shook her head. "But very smart."

"So where to next?" She asked.

"One of the workshops. More of a Foundry. The crew there turns all the scrap metals we find into something workable." He said.

"Ah." She nodded. She tapped at her chin as she tried to remember who would have been working there. "I think the main workers are Mint Audry, Rusty Lavanche, Rembrandt Shia, and Maurice Kur."

"Yep. Those are the main four that put in a lot of work."

"And Maurice is 'special'." She used air quotes. "Some kind of Hybrid. Different from the usual ADVENT types."

"Yes, the big guy. The scientists say he's got some Berserker in him… and that shows with his attitude some days…" He shook his head. How many times did he have to save some poor idiot who purposefully set the guy off because he was a Hybrid? Far too many. "But the other stuff he's spliced with, we don't know. And then there's another problem."

"Nobody can understand him properly."

"Yep. Whatever he's speaking, it isn't what ADVENT speaks. We've roughly translated some words, but it's still hit and miss."

"Hm." She rubbed her chin. "Wonder if I can."

As they neared the Foundry, she could feel the heat emanating out into the hall and could hear the hum of machinery.

"Sounds like they're busy." She could feel her body tingle from the excitement.

"They usually are." He chuckled at the giddy look on her face.

As they entered, Jynn rolled up her sleeves. It was nice and toasty. There was a nice orange glow to the room, coming from the main smelter. And by that smelter was the big guy.

Maurice. He looked just like the way Bradford had described him and what was in the archives. Just as tall as one of the old Mutons from back in the day, but now spliced with those new, nasty Berserkers. White to brown skin with lots of those armored hide platting growths littering his body. But had some more human features and some features of some other alien due to how floppy his ears looked. Reminded her of a goat's ear.

The man was busy checking how the scrap metal was melting. He must have had some insane heat tolerance if not outright resistance as she witnessed him dunk his forearm into the molten metal and bring it out like nothing as molten metal poured out of his hand. Besides the fact, he was shirtless and wore an apron loosely tied around his waist. She was going to have fun picking his brain later.

"Hey Bradford and Commander Reeves!" Two of the other workers greeted them.

It was Rusty and Rembrandt. The two were at a table, working on some drones. Those Seeker drones. Nasty things. Jynn remembered them losing a few soldiers back in the day to their choking mists. And now they had several in storage, recovered from XCOM's escapades around the globe, and were working on reprogramming and upgrading the things.

"How's the project going?" Bradford went over to them and they soon conversed.

Jynn, on the other hand, looked around until something caught her eye. There were plaques on one wall. They had names listed on them. As well as dates of birth and death. Looked like a memorial wall, like the one down in the bar. Then something else caught her eye. Dog tags. A table full of dog tags. She went over to it. Once there, she picked one up. The silver shimmered under the lights.

"Paxton R. Cersi. Hm." She couldn't recall the name.

"Hey! Don't touch those!" A muffled yet fiery female voice spoke up. Before Jynn knew it, a person wearing a welding visor rushed over to her, snatched the dog tags out of her hands, and shoved her away, causing her to fall to the floor. "How many times do I have to tell you people not to touch the ta—" She paused, soon stiffening in horror. She quickly flipped up their visor, brushing away sandy brown hair sticking to her wet face, and gasped.

"Capt'n— I mean Commander!" She recoiled in horror, realizing just what she had done.

"At ease, at ease." Jynn raised her hands. She laughed a little. "No harm, no foul. It's my fault."

"No, no, no it's my fault!" Mint profusely apologized as she tossed the dog tags to the side and rushed to help her up. "I am so sorry, ma'am!"

"It's okay!" Jynn knew she was to blame. She shouldn't have picked up the tags. "So you're this Mint I've heard of?" She asked, taking her hand. "Mint Audry?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Looks like your fire has finally gotten you in trouble, Minty!" Rembrandt snickered.

"Shut up, Rusty!" She shook her fist at him.

"You alright, Jynn?" Bradford had come over to check up on her.

"I'm fine. It was my fault." She reassured him. "Again, sorry Mint. Should have asked first."

"And Minty needs to learn how to look before shoving!" Rusty said in his thick Cajun accent.

"Rusty, I will smack you with my wrench again!" Mint pointed at him. That made him laugh.

Jynn shook her head at them. "You all are quite the bunch."

"You think she's fiery?" Rusty smacked his lips for a moment. "You would have liked Roy Thibideaux. Guy had a spark and knew how to get under John's skin." He wiggled his fingers at him. Bradford rolled his eyes. "He got away with calling dear ol' John, Johnny."

"Rusty…" A low growl came from Bradford.

"Really? Johnny?" She looked at Bradford and then Rusty. The corners of her lips twitched. She hadn't heard someone call him that since high school. And he hated it when it wasn't family. Looked like Bradford had been withholding that from the stories. "Thought only your parents, my brother, and a few of your cousins could get away with that."

"Jynn."

She let out a loud snort. Looks like he still hated that nickname. "I'll stop."

"RUSTY!"

A roar like an angry bull boomed throughout the room. The next second, a wrench flew past Jynn, Mint, and Bradford — and had some molten metal on it — and barely missed hitting Rusty's chest by a few inches. It hit the wall with a loud twang, leaving a sizable dent. The source of the roar and wrench. Maurice. The man was fuming. Visible steam was coming out of his nostrils and mouth.

"What the hell, man!?" Rusty was clutching his chest after nearly getting hit.

"YOTWO META CULTO TOA! ESKA TA TOA TA."

Mint cringed, hearing all the anger coming from their beastly friend. "I think he's saying he's going to kill you if you come over to his side and touch his stuff again."

"I haven't even been on his side!" Rusty threw his hands up."I don't need his tools!"

"LAUIR!"

"And he's calling you a liar."

"I didn't touch his stuff." He shook his head. He then looked at Maurice. "I DIDN'T TOUCH YOUR STUFF!"

"LAUIR!"

Maurice pointed at Rusty a few more times and made threatening gestures before he finally cooled down and returned to melting the scrap.

"Geez, that guy." Rusty shook his head.

"Well, somebody messed with his stuff." Rembrandt shook his head.

"Not me!" Rusty continued to defend himself.

Jynn was tapping her cheek as her mind went to work, deciphering what Maurice had just said. Sounded so familiar to her, somehow.

"I think I got it…" She mumbled under her breath as she headed over to Maurice's side of the Foundry. She kept her distance. Though he had cooled down, she could see just a bit of the blood rage lingering as he shredded scraps of metal with his bare hands and tossed them into the molten metal.

"Hm…" What to say to him? Probably in the language he spoke. It was slowly coming to her mind, being pulled from the memory banks the Elders implanted in her mind.

"Maurice. Unta vos… paltia esk vota." She paused a few times as she greeted him. The man's ears perked up. His head slowly turned to face her. Both brows were raised.

"Pultalo culto? He tapped his chest. Eyes wide, wondering if he was actually hearing someone talk in the language he was stuck speaking.

She nodded and smiled. "I can understand you. Just can't speak it too well."

"EH'WHA! VOLTO'WHA!" He suddenly exclaimed. The next second, he went over to her and grabbed her, hoisting her high up into the air, then into a tight hug. "EH'WHA! VOLTO'WHA!"

"What the heck? Rusty was wondering what they were witnessing.

"Oh, crap! He's crushing the Commander." Rembrandt noticed the growing grimace on her face.

"Maurice let her go! She's still fragile!" Mint noticed the Commander was slowly turning blue and was quickly heading over.

"Maurice! Let the Commander go!" Bradford was over in a heartbeat.

It took them a bit, but they finally got Maurice to let go of Commander Reeves. The man profusely apologized to her as they got her in a chair as she recovered. Jynn told him not to worry too much. She would be just as excited as him if someone could finally understand him.

"You can understand the big guy?" Rusty asked. Digging out some wax in his ear to make sure he heard that right.

"I can. One of the nice bonuses from what the Elders did to me." She chuckled. Probably the only thing she was thankful for. She looked back at Maurice. The man was still giddy, but still looked so sorry for nearly crushing her. "When I'm free, I think I'll help work on some translations for what Maurice is saying, so we all can communicate better."

"Really?" Mint's eyes lit up. "That's awesome if you can really do that!"

"We'll be finally able to understand the big guy? Sweet." Rembrandt was looking forward to that.

"Well, I'll be damned." Rusty rubbed his jaw. "Well, well, well…"

After wrapping up their visit to the Foundry, Bradford took Jynn to the Infirmary just in case. She protested, but he pointed out she had nearly passed out from Maurice's hug. Could have a cracked rib or more. She relented and let him take her. Thankfully, the doctors found nothing wrong or out of place.

"Wasn't quite expecting to have some excitement today." Jynn laughed as she rubbed her side. She was still a bit sore from that crushing hug.

"I'm glad you don't have anything broken." Bradford shook his head but smiled. "At least you can understand the guy. I'll look at getting you what you need to be a translation library."

"Thanks. I can't quite remember the name of the language right now, but I can understand him just fine."

She was kinda looking forward to doing some translation work later. Would be a nice change of pace from the meetings and reading reports from the various teams.

"So, any more places you're going to take me?" She asked.

"No, I think you've had enough excitement for the day. Think you need some rest, especially since you've got more meetings later." He said.

Hearing the word rest almost made her yawn on cue. "Maybe sleep would be good. I've been up longer than what I'm used to."

"Then to your Quarters. I'll bring up a meal later if you want that."

"That would be nice."

With that, Bradford took her back to the Quarters and bid her farewell.