Trials and Templars

The Praesidium, Situation Room

The Commander frowned at the report on his tablet, and looked up at Patricia, Aegis, and Zhang who had all arrived to discuss the latest development. "Does this seem genuine, Aegis?" All of them looked to the robed Ethereal as he studied the simple message which had been recently sent to ADVENT:

Las Vegas is next.

There was no signature or anything indicating identity, or even that it was alien in origin. But given the ominous nature of the message and the straightforward words, the Commander was suspecting it was the Battlemaster. "I would not be surprised if it were so," Aegis finally said. "Though he is normally not so…open."

Patricia crossed her arms. "It has to be a trap."

"I agree," Zhang nodded. "He's trying to use Las Vegas as bait for some reason. He might not even attack there."

"No, he would," Aegis countered. "However, he is clearly expecting a specific reaction to this. The question is what it could be."

"Assuming this is genuine in the first place," Zhang pointed out grimly. "Is Las Vegas a city we should care about? What value does it have strategically?"

"Symbolism," the Commander answered, looking down at the holomap of the state of Nevada. "Las Vegas is a cultural icon and seeing it captured would be a blow to morale and weaken the trust people have in ADVENT protecting them. Strategically, it's not useful. It's what it represents that's the issue."

"The question is if we should take the risk if it is fake," Patricia noted, leaning forward and resting her hands on the table. "Even if it isn't, the cities close to the fighting should evacuate. Yeah, it might ruin some vacations, but anyone actually going to Las Vegas for fun right now is an idiot."

The Commander opened his mouth to speak and Aegis suddenly raised a hand. "Commander…would it be unreasonable to assume that the destruction of the city would have a larger impact than its capture?"

"Depends on how well it is publicized," the Commander said with a shrug. "However, if they want to destroy it, I doubt there is anything we can do to stop them from broadcasting. ADVENT could lie, but it might backfire. Why?"

"A thought," Aegis mused. "I wonder if that is what the Battlemaster plans. To destroy the city. He would not do so if there were civilians still living in the city, but if they were gone…"

"Ah," Zhang suddenly smiled. "I see. ADVENT of course wants to reduce civilian casualties. Leak the attack ahead of time and they will evacuate, leaving nothing but soldiers. Clever."

The Commander had to agree. "Interesting. That means he does not see any strategic value in preserving it. Perhaps we can use that."

"The question is how," Patricia mused. "The easiest way to negate his plans would be to advise Saudia not to evacuate. It might prevent the Battlemaster from destroying the city right away-"

"No, it won't," the Commander interrupted. "All that will do is delay him. If he really just wants to destroy the city, he'll just remove the civilians and do it anyway. We have little to gain by not evacuating."

"We can't forget that this may simply be a distraction," Zhang reminded them. "I highly doubt the Battlemaster will just attack one city, if he even bothers to personally appear."

"I agree," Aegis nodded. "If I had to hypothesize, he is preparing another offensive in the United States. Likely to capture Portland and Seattle before continuing onward."

The Commander frowned as he looked down at the holotable. With Canada unreliable, and the Battlemaster wanting to establish clear lines of territory as he advanced, reprisal was going to be…problematic, and he clearly wanted those cities. The Templar Program was proceeding…well…but he was very skeptical that they would do little more than slow the Battlemaster down. Whichever city he attacked was likely forfeit, but doing nothing was out of the question.

"If it is him, the Battlemaster is giving us a warning," Patricia said slowly. "We need to take that. Negate as much damage as possible."

"The good news is that all the civilians that were still in Portland and Seattle are gone," Zhang noted. "I hate to suggest this…but I think we should begin thinking not of winning, but asset denial tactics and prepare in more fortified cities and use the natural barriers in the Midwest instead to trying to keep our hold on the West Coast cities."

The Commander sighed. "Unfortunately, I don't necessarily disagree. At the very least contingencies should be made if we do lose the cities. If the Battlemaster is indeed intent on destroying Las Vegas, we should make it as costly for him as possible."

Patricia rubbed her forehead. "Saudia is not going to like this. The large decisions like this have to be approved by her."

"She isn't an idiot," the Commander said. "And I think that we'll all agree that if we do lose the cities, we make sure there isn't much left for the aliens to use, or make it extremely costly."

"So is that our recommendation?" Patricia asked. "Evacuate Las Vegas and prepare to sacrifice the cities?"

"It should be," Aegis agreed. "Perhaps you can hold the cities where the Battlemaster is not attacking, but in the event you cannot, it is better to force the Battlemaster to delay than decide a few structures are worth preserving and allow him to capture them whole. And I will strive to continue preparing the Templars until the Battlemaster strikes."

"I'm curious when you'll actually decide to participate," Zhang muttered, shooting a glare at the Ethereal. "Talk is all well and good, but actions speak louder than words, as we Humans say. If you really are on our side, you should show it."

"I will help when the time is right," Aegis answered calmly. "I do not wish to escalate the situation more than necessary. Yes, I could help you and perhaps save the West Coast. But you understand that by publicly taking a side, you will draw more Ethereals here, and it might be more than we can handle. I am not refraining from interference simply because of cowardice and not 'taking a side' as you put it. But because my public involvement could irrevocably doom your world."

The Commander pinched the bridge of his nose. "I can understand that to a degree, but if the situation worsens…"

"I am not ignorant, Commander," Aegis said. "If the situation becomes dire enough, I will intervene. You have my word."

A word the Commander didn't entirely trust, but then again, Aegis had been exceedingly helpful the past couple months, and perhaps he could be trusted to a degree. But it was still mildly frustrating dealing with his refusal to openly fight. "I suppose that's it. I'll have Jackson send our recommendation to Saudia. Dismissed."

Australia, Sydney Outskirts

Abby put away her binoculars and observed the now-captured city from afar. The problem, from even the outside, was that it seemed impossible to get in without discovery. Whoever was in charge of defense was very smart. There were what looked like Zararch snipers, and every street entrance was guarded by Mutons and she had observed groups of Mutons led by Centurions or a Vitakara wandering the city streets.

No civilians whatsoever, at least wandering out in the open. What was curious was that there appeared be no supply lines of any kind. She'd carefully watched over the past couple days and nothing. Which immediately indicated to her that they had, or were building, Gateways within the city.

Which was not good.

She knew hard proof was needed, but again the problem was actually getting inside, and then out once she learned what she needed. Exploring without a direction or general area was also a bad idea, as she would only waste time and increase the possibility of her capture. So no good options.

A glint in the sky caught her eye and she looked up to see a gray UFO transport come out of the sky, and maneuver towards the interior of the city, close to the center, and slowly land. She raised an eyebrow and brought up her binoculars. Hm. Well, that hadn't been expected. The good news was that from her vantage point she could get an idea of what they were doing, since the area had been converted into a makeshift landing zone recently.

Her eyes widened even more as they began unloading a strange structure, almost an upright U attached to a pedestal with glowing purple lenses throughout it…ah, now that made sense. They were receiving Gateways from offworld, not actually building them here. That made sense, but as she kept watching, she didn't see more than two being unloaded.

In the grand scheme of things, that wasn't a lot. It would be a problem, but unlikely to be game-changing especially if they were located and destroyed. She quickly noted that in her log, along with the time and location, as well as the areas it appeared the Gateways were being transported to. Harper would definitely prefer harder intel, but she simply didn't have the equipment or information needed to successfully penetrate the city.

Well, she'd gotten what he wanted. Her goals were to learn if the aliens did have Gateways established and if possible, their locations. She knew the answer to one, and could narrow down the second. It would have to be good enough, and she'd need to talk with Zhang about additional tactics or supplies she could use.

She waited until the sun went down and then began making her way back to the main camp with the little ATV Rover she'd been provided. It would at least suffice until she reached the helicopter, one of the few that was in operation. That reminded her…

She was fairly certain at this point the deal she had made with the Chronicler was up. She didn't remember if it had been two or three weeks, but even if it was the latter, she knew it was past that. Once she reported to Harper, maybe it was time to pay the psion a visit and see if he was as useful as he'd promised.

Abby wasn't sure she actually wanted him to have fulfilled his promise. If he had…it was going to make things a lot more complicated.

The Praesidium, Templar Training Arena

The thing Patricia especially liked about the Praesidium was how large it actually was. She had initially thought that the ones selected for the Templar program could train with the regular psions, but she'd dismissed that when the Commander had notified her of a large empty room that could be used as a training arena for them.

And so the Templar Training Area was born. It was largely empty and a massive rectangular room with one corner filled with various obstacles when either Aegis or Leng wanted to challenge the trainees. All of them were deep in practice now. There had been four she and Aegis had deemed appropriate as "trial" participants.

Iosif first, which was not a surprise as a defensive psion fit the program exceptionally well. Karen Dais had also been chosen, and Patricia did believe that a telekinetic psion could work almost as well as a defensive one. Chan Jin-Taek was more of a test case, since he was an attack psion and potentially vulnerable in a way none of the other ones were. He wouldn't go up against the Battlemaster, but Aegis did believe an attack psion could easily decimate ordinary enemies.

The last one she'd added almost as an afterthought: Carmelita. While the combination of psionics and melee combat was technically what Patricia wanted, Carmelita was uniquely qualified to fill the role. She had experience with melee combat to a degree, was an expert at close quarters and ultimately, if she could wield a melee weapon…Patricia couldn't see a reason to deny her that. She was really only accepted because she had the Iron Skin and Muscle Fiber Density modifications and could take damage that Templars would draw. But Patricia knew that Carmelita would be the exception here – not the rule.

Right now the Korean woman was dueling Leng who was still managing to fight her to a draw. Patricia shook her head in amazement as he continuously managed not to get brutally beaten by the genetically superior soldier. All the Templars were training in full armor, as Aegis and Leng both agreed that they should get used to wielding weapons in their gear.

Chan was currently cutting through a self-created scenario of haptic dummy projections, his greatsword flaring with purple mist as he swung the blade as if it weighed nothing. Karen was practicing telekinetically calling her weapon to her hand instinctively and throwing it again at a different target.

Iosif was currently attempting to duel Aegis and actually seemed to be doing decently. All in all, things were proceeding well. A month and they might have some exceptional duelists. As soon as the Commander had authorized the program, Patricia had Jackson find an actual expert in historical melee weaponry and tactics, and she had found one: Aki Leng.

A middle-aged Japanese immigrant to America, he had been surprised at the offer, but definitely willing. She confirmed that he seemed trustworthy enough, and that he wouldn't do anything to hinder their operations. He had been, well, somewhat disturbed seeing the Battlemaster in action, and the fact that one of the same aliens was working for XCOM didn't exactly reassure him.

However, he did agree that their plan was solid, and had immediately gone along and shattered Shen's vision for the Templars. Shen, and Patricia too for that matter, had envisioned the Templars as sword-wielding psions that killed enemies with ease and could slow the Battlemaster down, if not stop him altogether. Romantic for sure, and not practical at all according to Leng.

The first thing he had thrown out the window was the set goal of using swords as the base weapon. He had, rightfully, pointed out that stabbing the Battlemaster was going to accomplish absolutely nothing because of his armor, and would ultimately be little more than show. "He's not going to get tired, he's not going to have his armor breached, and he's not going to care about your swords except laugh." Leng had said. "You really want to slow him down? Damage him."

So he had instead proposed that psions dueling the Battlemaster wield armor damaging weapons like war hammers, maces and flails. "Swords are useful," he'd said. "But they are not a one-size-fits all weapon. It's just another tool. You don't use screwdriver to weld steel, so why should you use a sword against impenetrable armor?"

Aegis had been rather impressed he'd pointed that out. Apparently the Battlemasters in the Empire had not bound themselves by a single weapon either. Aegis recalled that while most did indeed use greatswords, there were a good number that duel-wielded, used axes, morning stars and energy-based alien weapons. So the next thing Leng had done was help each new Templar pick out a weapon that suited them the best.

Iosif had chosen a mace as his primary weapon, two of them in fact. A shorter one for regular enemies and a longer one for dealing with the Battlemaster specifically. Weight wasn't much of a factor, as all of them were genetically enhanced and could swing heavy weapons easily. Patricia was very careful not to be around Iosif when he was swinging his mace around, since he could probably kill her with one lucky hit, or break most of her bones at the least.

Chan had developed a love of massive two-handed weapons that he could envelop in psionic energy. He was alternating between a massive double-headed war hammer which she was also trying to stay away from, and the Zweihander, which looked like a greatsword except somehow larger and with two parrying hooks on the blade, slightly above the hilt. From what she gathered, the Zweihander was for regular aliens and the war hammer was for the Battlemaster.

Karen had opted for complete annihilation tactics. Her primary weapons were two short swords which she planned to use against regular alien forces, throwing and recalling them in such a way that she was never unarmed, and a long-handled mace if she had to face the Battlemaster. In addition to all that, she had strapped half a dozen combat knives to her armor, and planned to telekinetically throw them when she deemed it appropriate.

As Carmelita was the lone non-psion in the group, her style was slightly different. Namely that her alloy cannon was one of her primary weapons, and her melee weapon would alternate between the standard longsword, and a flail. Why she had chosen such a dangerous weapon for her second option had been brought up by Leng, and Carmelita had shrugged and said something to the effect of "It's unique." Which Patricia knew from her emotions, that it was her way of saying she wanted to use it, and that was that.

Shen was designing special MELD and alien alloy enhanced variants of the weapons they would be using, but in practice they would always be using basic non-modified weapons. For one, it meant they could unload on Aegis to their heart's content as he couldn't be hurt by them, and the Aegis armor was strong enough that Leng could spar with swords and even flails and not get hurt.

She smiled as she felt Creed come up behind her and whistle. "Well, they seem to be coming along quite nicely. Not joining in?"

He meant it as a joke and she chuckled along with it. "Unfortunately not, I can't use my own powers in melee combat. Wrong skill set."

He smirked at her. "Nah, you're just not thinking creatively enough," he tapped his head. "It's actually pretty simple: Invade their minds, say "freeze" and while they stand there you go up and slice their throats."

She raised an eyebrow. "Or I could just shoot them. Never really liked making things more complicated for myself."

"Fair enough," he relented, coming up and putting his arms around her, pulling her into his chest while they watched the Templars train. "You trust the new guy?"

"Leng?" She asked. "For the most part. He's done well here so far and he surprisingly gets along with Aegis well. I don't think he'll be a problem. Trust me, I'm keeping an eye on him."

"Well, if anyone would know, it's you," Creed said. "I never thought medieval combat would actually return. Seeing XCOM soldiers wielding swords is strange, let alone a giant alien doing the same."

"Neither did I," Patricia admitted, listening to his steady heartbeat as the sounds of steel hitting steel rang in the foreground. "But then again, there's a lot of things I didn't expect recently."

There was silence for a few minutes. "Do you think we can stop him?" Creed finally asked.

Patricia hesitated before answered, until she just slumped into him and sighed. "I don't know," she admitted. "Aegis is doing his best but…even with his help, even if we had everything…I don't know if we can. And if we do…I'm worried what that would bring down on us. You…you don't know, but the Battlemaster is far from the most dangerous Ethereal out there. I'm worried that even if we kill him, we'll just draw down someone worse."

"Then we'll kill them too," Creed reassured her, kissing her gently on the side of her head. "I trust you and I trust the Commander to figure out a solution to any problem that comes up. Think about it Patricia – We should have lost this war a long time ago, but we didn't. All the aliens have accomplished is making our species stronger, and the longer they fight us, the better we'll become. I don't think the Ethereals have ever run into a species quite like ours, Patricia, they don't know how to deal with an enemy that takes their strengths and turns it against them."

He did believe the words he was saying, but he didn't know what she knew about the Ethereals, the Collective, the Synthesized, Revelean, the Imperator himself. He was blissfully ignorant of the evidence that point to the fact that not only did the Ethereals know how adaptable Humanity was, they were counting on it.

For what purpose…Aegis said the Imperator wanted soldiers.

She wasn't so sure anymore. She believed he was after something specific. There was a goal he wanted to accomplish that all of them were missing.

But she didn't say anything to Creed, and just enjoyed being in his presence as they watched the Templars train for the inevitable duel with an Ethereal who'd spent centuries honing his craft.

Japan, Nakashibetsu

"Everything is so quiet." Beatriz said softly as she peered through her sniper rifle, looking across the vast expanse of fields. "Do you think they've given up?"

"Doubt it," Johan said with a shrug, still keeping his rifle at the ready. "But they're probably done for the day."

Duri agreed. The aliens attempted to press an attack of sorts every day, usually by sending a few dozen Andromedon and Vitakara soldiers. He was fairly sure it was a continuous probing attack to make sure ADVENT wasn't planning a sudden attack on their one lone town. But it was always hectic, even if ADVENT had every advantage.

They had definitely not been idle, and Duri knew that fairly soon ADVENT was going to launch a retaliation attack on the town. Within Nakashibetsu itself, there were dozens of THAAD defense systems and artillery launchers, which was the primary reason they had suffered very few losses when the aliens attacked. There was simply no good cover for them to take, and what cover there had been was now wrecked. The once-tidy fields were now ravaged by artillery fire and turned into misshapen terrain of dirt, grass and plants.

More artillery and squads were being covertly deployed to encircle the town itself, and for the moment hadn't been detected. Or they had been, but the aliens believed they were safe. Duri wouldn't have been surprised if that was the case. ADVENT Intelligence agents had reportedly been working there, and the intel he'd heard was…concerning.

The agents reported that the aliens had enacted a red energy shield over the entire town, much like what he'd seen from the Andromedons from the first attack. On top of that they were utilizing a kind of laser-point defense system which was shooting down all the airstrikes that had been attempted there. Supposedly there were also several dozen Sectopods (What the massive alien machines were called, apparently), and a lot of Andromedon soldiers.

Duri had also heard talk of something called a Gateway, but he didn't know what that was.

"Well, I think it's past time we kicked these aliens off this island," Cara muttered, her gauss autorifle still trained on the fields. "We should be in America."

Duri pursed his lips under his helmet, not really sure what he should say to that. He could understand Cara wanting to defend her homeland, but he knew that keeping the aliens in check here was just as important. "They'll be pushed back," he reassured her. "But the aliens here are just as important."

"No disrespect intended, but no," Cara stated flatly. "If the aliens take America it's probably over. Even if Japan is lost, it's not a death blow. Not yet, anyway."

"I'd be grateful, if anything," Kang shrugged. "A lot of the people were killed in the attacks. The stuff I've heard about San Francisco is rather disturbing."

"About how that one alien killed a fifth of a garrison?" Cara snorted. "Yeah, I'll wait for an official proclamation before I believe that. There probably was some super-alien, but not one that powerful. Sure, San Francisco was lost, but they should have at least owned up to it."

"I'm not sure," Beatriz commented softly. "In the official statement, there was no mention about how San Francisco was lost, and no mention of a super alien either. Not like LA. Maybe it isn't like the rumors, but I think there was something there that has the leadership worried."

"In any event, it doesn't change our goal here," Duri said, ready to refocus them before they became too focused on rumors. "We know ADVENT is preparing to decapitate the aliens here. Then we'll see if they decide to redeploy us or not."

"Speak for yourself, but I rather like it here," Johan said easily. "Barring the slightly marred countryside, this is a rather beautiful place. We get to kill aliens and our chances of dying are low. In my experience, looking for fights normally leads to people dying in various horrible ways."

"Here, here," Beatriz agreed with a nod.

"Yeah, sure," Cara sighed. "But you try being objective when it's your country under attack."

"We understand," Duri told her, resting a gauntleted hand on her shoulder. "But all of us – no matter which country is attacked – need to remember that it's bigger than just one nation. Even if we lose one battle, the war is far from lost. America will be reclaimed. I'm sure of it."

"I hope so," Cara relented, letting the barrel of her weapon rest on the ground. "But I want to be there when it happens."

Duri smiled. "No promises, but if we finish off the aliens here…I'll see about being deployed to America."

"We get a vote in this?" Johan asked humorously.

"You say no?" Duri asked, raising an eyebrow even if Johan couldn't see it under the helmet.

"What, me?" He asked sarcastically. "Nah, been awhile since I've been there, and as long as we're killing aliens, I'm fine with it."

"No suicide missions though," Beatriz added.

All of them chuckled at that, and Duri did note that Cara seemed a little less tense as they continued their watch. Thing would hopefully be wrapped up in Japan soon, but Duri also had a feeling the aliens wouldn't simply continue their probing attacks for long.

They would try another invasion soon, and this time he feared the aliens intended to ensure they couldn't lose.

The Praesidium, Templar Training Arena

Nuan was now wondering on occasion if she'd died and was now living in some alternate reality because the scene in front of her didn't make sense on a logical level. It was utterly fascinating, but not something a rational person would ever expect to see.

Specifically, Iosif and an Ethereal dueling. With a mace and whatever purple weapon Aegis was using.

The Commander had a certain gift for understatement, and of course he had decided to casually reveal XCOM was working with a living Ethereal in the most off-handed and normal way possible. The first thing had involved him calling up groups to his office, where initially he outlined what XCOM was going to be doing to counter the Battlemaster (Which she was very thankful for). And Patricia had revealed the Templar program and what that entailed.

Everything seemed normal. Until someone asked how they could possibly train for something like the Battlemaster. And of course the Commander had said that they'd be training with the Ethereal that was working with them, who by the way, was called Aegis. In hindsight, Nuan believed that the Commander was secretly enjoying springing this bombshell on them.

Needless to say, none of them were permitted to share this with anyone outside XCOM. The Intelligence Director had made the not-so-subtle threat of what would happen if anyone did.

So now she was stuck with game-changing information and couldn't do anything with it. Perhaps…perhaps it was for the best. If the Chinese Government knew that XCOM was working directly with an Ethereal…well, she honestly wasn't sure what they could do. But with that information, they could definitely use it against XCOM by implying that they were under the influence of this alien.

Her jaw locked up at that thought. That was exactly what she didn't want to have happen. She didn't believe they were under the influence of this Ethereal, otherwise why would XCOM still be fighting at all? But she did agree that at least ADVENT and the governments of the world needed to know about this. Not the public, obviously, but at least the people in charge.

So she'd decided it might be informative to actually go down and see this Aegis and Templar Program. The Templars she could at least report on, though the premise was not likely to make sense to them until they knew about the Battlemaster, which apparently was also being kept quiet. Another mistake in her opinion. It was going to get out eventually, and even if the news was terrifying, it was better than learning XCOM and ADVENT had deliberately kept quiet on it.

She'd said as much to the Commander, who had shook his head and said something about "Not creating more unnecessary panic. Morale is more important than truth at this point." She could agree with that sentiment to a degree, it was almost Chinese in reasoning, but to flat out refuse to tell other militaries? Questionable.

However, what she had learned for an hour or so of observation was how much she enjoyed watching dueling. She was still somewhat confused as to why Iosif had chosen a mace of all things, but it was definitely enjoyable to watch him duel an opponent that towered over him.

The Ethereal himself was just as fascinating. From the way those dark blue robes were positioned over his body, she would have thought it would hinder his movement. But the Ethereal was surprisingly graceful, especially for his size. The sword-like weapon in one of his hands looked like it was made out of nothing but psionic energy, but it didn't seem to be hurting Iosif when he got hit.

It was the voice that truly caught her attention. It was rich and deep, and seemed to make the air itself vibrate around him, and had some kind of echo after each syllable spoken. If she hadn't liked the sound of it so much, it would definitely be something she would find disturbing. Then there was the aura the Commander had warned them about. She knew it was affecting her, even if she was rather far away, but she could tell she was close enough because she didn't feel any concern or fear.

Normally, anything alien made her nervous, so an Ethereal should dredge up some kind of suspicious emotions, but those never came until after she left. That and she would have also been concerned about people swinging dangerous weapons around with intent to hurt or kill. Iosif was clearly not holding back, even if Aegis was. But she strangely wasn't concerned for his own safety.

Right now the alien and Human weren't dueling, per-se, but had been going through repetitions, apparently to help Iosif improve his ability to integrate his abilities into combat. Aegis swung his sword from multiple angles, ordering "Deflect! Deflect! Block!" And at the word "Block" Iosif would raise a hand or forearm and a psionic shield would manifest itself in front of Aegis' phantom blade before dissipating a second later.

Aegis was deceptively fast, and he attacked from every angle she could imagine, all while yelling out commands at the same time. Sometimes he'd order two blocks in a row and then nothing but deflects for a solid two minutes. By the time the twenty-minute marker had passed, Nuan was sure that Iosif was tired from the relentless assaults and commands. And then Aegis finally attacked with a swing he was unable to block and it sent him flying nearly a dozen feet to the side.

If Nuan could feel concern right now, she would have winced. But he didn't seem hurt, and Aegis' weapon dissipated and he withdrew the arm into his robes. "Well done," he said. "Rest for now before you exhaust yourself." Then turned and walked over to where some of the other Templars were training.

Iosif groaned and picked himself up, and once he had, pulled off his helmet and trudged over to her. The only indication of his surprise at seeing her was a raised eyebrow. "Hello Nuan, like what you see?"

She nodded. "Yes, it's rather interesting. I definitely would not have expected anything like this before coming here."

For some reason, Iosif seemed to find her answer funny. "But really," he continued, reaching for a water bottle. "Why did you come down here?"

"I wanted to see this Templar Program in action," she answered. "And the Ethereal. Speaking of which…did you know about him? The whole time?"

"Aegis?" Iosif glanced back. "Yeah, for quite a while. Figured the Commander would tell all of you eventually. Trust me, I was surprised to learn it. But really, Aegis isn't all that bad. A bit overly dramatic and everything, with that getup, but I like him. He's been helping all the psions and I'm guessing the Commander and his council."

That seemed…reasonable. At least to a degree. A hostile Ethereal probably wouldn't attempt to train Human psions. "Why is he here?" She asked.

"Supposedly because he isn't happy with how the Ethereals are handling us," Iosif shrugged. "So his response is apparently to defect and join their greatest enemy. Got to give him credit there. Doubt that's the whole story, but I don't think he's a spy or anything like that. Otherwise we'd all be dead or captured."

Nuan nodded. "Did that hurt? When you got hit?"

"It wasn't fun," Iosif emphasized, leaning his mace against the wall. "But it didn't quite hurt. I don't really feel that anymore thanks to my modification. But Aegis has been pressing me that no matter how bad it is here, the Battlemaster is going to be much, much harder."

Nuan motioned toward the mace. "Why that instead of a sword?"

"Well, because I wanted it and because it's more practical," he explained, picking it up. "A sword is probably not going to pierce or slice his armor, but a mace might be able to put a dent into it and make it difficult for him. A good blow to his head might also disorient him. Leng was rather insistent that all of us train in some kind of blunt weapon for heavily armored enemies." He grabbed the haft and extended it to her. "Go ahead and hold it."

She reached out with a hand and grasped the cool haft. "I'd grab it with two hands," Iosif advised with a grin. "It's heavier than you think." She took his advice and grasped it firmly with both hands, eying the flanged head of the mace, which to her eye looked almost as big as her own head. He let go and the head almost dropped to the floor immediately.

She hissed and shifted her grip and managed to lift it in what was probably a mockery of an attack stance. The damn thing was heavy. She looked up at him incredulously. "How do you swing this thing around with one hand?"

"The beauty of genetic modification," he smiled, taking the mace back at her insistence and casually twirling it in his hand. "Enhanced strength is a useful side effect. This isn't really a 'standard' mace either. It's a bigger adaption of the German Mace, with a longer haft and bigger head. Specifically for fighting the Battlemaster. I've got a much smaller one for regular enemies."

"I'd hate to get hit with that thing," Nuan shuddered at the thought of someone being smashed with that flanged weapon. "It might be worse than a sword."

"Depends on where you get hit," Iosif chuckled, letting it fall to his side. "The mace will break bones and cause a lot of blunt trauma. Although with the exception of head injuries, the wounds can be treated easier should there be medics on hand. People generally don't die from broken bones, but they do die from amputated limbs and blood loss." He set the mace back against the wall. "However, one good blow to the head is usually enough to kill most people."

Nuan nodded, now wanting to ask a question that had been on her mind. "Why did you never block Aegis with your weapon? It was always a psionic shield."

"His advice," Iosif explained. "According to him, blocking the Battlemaster with your weapon is a quick way to die unless you're as large as him. It's better to deflect instead of outright block, saves energy and will stop you from being driven into the ground from the force of the blade alone. Aegis hits hard, and he's quite pointedly told me that the Battlemaster hits much harder."

That made sense, but didn't seem like overly good news. "Does he have any weaknesses?" She asked.

Iosif pursed his lips. "In combat? Truthfully, very few, if any at all. According to Aegis, he's had literal centuries of training and has seen probably anything we can throw at him. Even if we manage to break his armor or pierce it, his skin is strong enough to likely stop our weapons. Not to mention that he's a telekinetic and does use his powers in combat."

Iosif paused thoughtfully. "Aegis thinks that we might be able to use his height against him. The bastard is twelve feet tall, that's twice as tall as me, and several heads taller than Aegis himself. Getting in close might hinder him more, and make it difficult for him defend himself at such close range. His only true weakness is psionic attacks, but no one but Chan can really do anything about that, and Aegis said that the Battlemaster is well aware of his flaws and he doesn't usually let actual threats live very long."

"You're not exactly making me feel better." Nuan stated slowly, slowly becoming a little concerned. Well, more than usual. Apparently Aegis was far enough away that he wasn't affecting her anymore.

"What, you prefer I lie?" He asked sarcastically, with a smile. "Yep, there's a good chance I'll die, but we really don't have a choice, do we?"

Nuan shook her head. "No, I guess not."

"Hey, don't count any of us out yet," he said, resting a hand on her shoulder. "I think Shen and Vahlen are making some tools to help us. And don't forget we're getting help from an Ethereal that specializes in protection and defense. Trust me, I don't plan to die."

"I don't think any of us want to," Nuan said quietly. "But it seems…almost impossible, honestly."

"Then give yourself every advantage you can," Iosif suggested. "Do what I did. Don't want to die? Make yourself as unkillable as possible. Get yourself genetically modified. Trust me, you won't regret it. Train in melee combat, hand to hand, any weapon you can to survive in any situation. Sticking to one weapon only won't help you forever."

She bit her lip. The genetic modification was admittedly something she'd been considering, but wasn't sure if it was an appropriate step to take, especially without permission from her superiors. However, maybe if it was to increase her survivability, they might not need to-no, no, she was doing it again.

Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. Going being their back like that would be just a traitorous as lying, especially since it meant subjecting herself to foreign procedures. The problem was that those thoughts were becoming more and more common, and she was finding it harder and harder to just ignore them or dismiss them as the treason that they were.

"Nuan? You alright?"

"I-" she quickly glanced up at a now-concerned Iosif. "Yes."

He appraised her for a few seconds. "Remember what I said about psions knowing if someone is lying? I somehow doubt it, Nuan. You've been doing that a lot recently."

"I'm fine," she repeated, hoping that would somehow make it better. "I'll…I'll think about what you suggested. You're right, we all have to minimize our chances of losing. But…" she sucked in her breath, then slumped her shoulders. "Sorry. I have to go now. I'll talk to you later."

He didn't seem entirely surprised, but definitely concerned. Still, he said nothing as she made a quick and highly suspicious exit. But she knew that if she'd stayed he'd probably start asking questions and she did not feel like discussing them with someone until she sorted herself out.

But the longer it continued, the more she was wondering if she even could.

Warburton, Australia

From the onset, Abby could tell there was something different about the little town the Chronicler was staying in. Every single alien on the outskirts still had the illusion of guards, but they were almost as motionless as statues. It was eerie, truth be told, and Abby wasn't sure she wanted to just walk into it, even if the Chronicler had assured her that she would be safe.

But she didn't exactly have much of a choice. She supposed it would be pretty simple. She expose herself far enough away where she could retreat if they actually were hostile. Still, she wasn't overly keen on the idea.

Be calm, Agent Gertrude, my soldiers will not harm you.

She almost yelped at the Chronicler's voice suddenly appearing in her head. Don't do that again, she thought furiously, in case he was listening, but at least it was clear he was here. In fact, there was a small group of aliens coming directly towards her position. A Vitakarian soldier flanked by standard Muton soldiers.

She stayed in place, figuring they had been sent by him. Sure enough they stopped about five feet from her position. The Vitakarian inclined his head towards her. "Agent Gertrude of XCOM, follow us. The Chronicler wishes to speak to you."

She frowned at the voice, the words were delivered in a dull monotone devoid of any semblance of expression. His eyes were impossible to read, since they were a solid blue, but the Mutons were more conventional and she could swear they looked glazed over, what she might expect a sleepwalker to have or something.

Was he controlling them even now?

"Take me to him," she nodded, and joined the group as they escorted her into the town. It was even more unnerving as she walked around the empty buildings and houses. The entire town was dead silent, even with the dozens of aliens milling around or standing guard. Many of them turned to look at her, staring as she walked with unblinking eyes.

The atmosphere of this town was almost smothering. Something seemed badly off about all of this. Mind control was one thing, she'd seen it from Patricia, but this didn't seem to be anything like that. Not really. She didn't know what it was, but it was something strange and disturbing. The Chronicler had some explaining to do.

The problem was that even if he did have some kind of rational explanation…she wasn't sure she could even verify that. She wasn't a psion, and he wasn't an idiot. She had no doubt he would exploit that somehow, yet it did seem like he actually had done as promised.

Which made this very complicated.

The Chronicler himself was sitting on a bench in the middle of a city square, reading something on his tablet. Two Andromedons stood behind him, the behemoths silent and foreboding. He set the tablet down as she approached, and greeted her with a wide smile. "Agent Gertrude! So, what do you think?"

She hesitated slightly before answering. "What did you do to them? This doesn't look like just mind control?"

"Ah, but it is," he answered, clasping his hands behind his back. "What you've no doubt seen is Patricia temporarily take control of various aliens. She has no need to tact or subtlety, all she wants is for them to kill each other. Useful, but hardly viable beyond the short term." He gestured to the aliens around him. "True mind control, Miss Gertrude, is more subtle. It's more than simply forcing a message into their little minds. You have to change their way of thinking, you have to establish firm mental commands over time. You have to spend time and constantly exert your will over them."

He inclined his head towards her. "And for most people, it takes days. But with the Ethereal Orb and my decades of experience, I know how to do it rather quickly. It's pleasant not having to constantly babysit aliens telepathically. Now I give commands and they carry them out. Useful, wouldn't you say?"

"That depends on how they're used," Abby answered, crossing her arms. "I'm impressed. You actually did what you said. And what is your next move? Continue gathering soldiers? Eventually someone is going to notice."

"Oh, they will," the Chronicler smiled. "But as for what I do next, that, I think, depends a great deal on you."

Abby raised an eyebrow. "I assume this refers to me telling the Commander about you or not."

"Correct," he nodded. "And I have changed my mind on that to a degree. I would prefer to keep working with you, agent. However that is best accomplished by having access to XCOM resources and information, both of which you can provide me access to. Look around and tell me what you see?"

Abby looked around at the aliens in the town, of all types. "Spies." She said with a nod. "You can use them to penetrate the defenses."

"Clever girl," he confirmed. "They would have to be used sparingly at first, but I have no doubt more will come eventually. I have a plan for growing my own forces, but what is important to you is what I can do with them. Intel gathering, Gateway locations, troop numbers, sabotage, assassination, poison; the list, Agent Gertrude, is limitless."

"But you want me to help," Abby said slowly. "What do you want from me?"

"Reveal me to the Commander as a…contact," the Chronicler explained slowly. "Someone who's in the cities and can cause damage. My psionics will remain a secret of course, but this way I can more effectively coordinate my efforts to help XCOM, and the Resistance here, of course. I would hate to accidentally ruin your plans."

Abby thought for a moment. "The Commander is not going to trust you at first. And if you do cause as much damage as you claim, then he's going to ask questions."

"I expect he will," he nodded. "However, that is unimportant right now. I'm not asking much here, agent, and you stand to gain a lot more if you work with me. Quite frankly, with the Battlemaster in play, you need all the help you can get."

Abby appraised him carefully. "And how do you know about that?"

He smiled and tapped the side of his head. "The Battlemaster is well-known in the Collective army. They spread the news of his conquest quite readily. I simply observe. So what do you say, agent? Help me liberate Australia? Or potentially doom it?"

"Cute phrasing," Abby snorted as she thought. She still didn't trust him, not completely. Anyone who could do…this, was dangerous, and she was entirely relying on him not taking control of her here. Yet the fact that he hadn't yet told her that he probably wasn't going mind control her. The question is whether she could do it at all without him learning of it.

But the bigger question was if she should.

He's right. We need all the help we can get.

Objectively, there wasn't a question of working with him. It would make their operations much easier and could actually cause a great deal of damage to the aliens. Subjectively, she wasn't entirely sure what would happen afterwards if they won. This had the makings of a deal with the devil, and she knew there would be some cost down the line.

If we lose, it won't matter in the end.

Another good point. Would it actually be better if they lost because she was too skeptical of a psion? Was she being unreasonable here? Patricia was trustworthy, why did she have to be the only one? The other XCOM psions were likely the same, and aside from manipulating EXALT, the Chronicler didn't seem completely evil. If he was, he'd have likely tried to take over the world long ago.

If he was, he wouldn't even be bothering with giving her this choice in the first place. No, she was being paranoid here and needed to do her job. The Commander would understand, and if he ever learned, she could defend it.

Abby looked at the Chronicler and gave a single nod. "I'll take your deal. You help us liberate Australia and I'll keep your secret. For now. Move against XCOM or ADVENT and I'll be sure to tell him."

"Acceptable," the Chronicler smiled. "I'm glad we could come to this agreement. And here." He tossed the tablet at her which she caught. "Locations of the Gateways for Sydney and a few other cities. Give it to the Commander as a token of my authenticity. Also mention I know about the Battlemaster if he questions if they are accurate. Only those inside the cities or in ADVENT or XCOM know."

"I will," Abby promised, lowering the tablet. "I'll be in contact soon."

He gave a short melodramatic bow. "I look forward to it, Agent Gertrude. I look forward to working with XCOM."

He probably did. Abby just hoped that she was making the right decision here, but it was done. Now she had to return and sort all of this out with Zhang in the Commander.

She was sure both of them were going to be thrilled.

The Praesidium, Engineering Bay

Shen had announced he had made a breakthrough in the Templar weapons, so the Commander had immediately come down to see what it was. No mention of the Shinobi-class MEC, but he didn't expect that to be completed for some time. But if Shen was already finished with the weapons, then perhaps he would get the MEC done in short order as well.

Shen was standing over by a table with several different weapons laid on it, while engineers worked around him. Lily was also by him, surprisingly enough, and visibly brightened as he walked over. "Commander!"

He gave her a smile. "Hello, Lily. Long time no see."

"I'm glad you came so quickly," Shen nodded, seeming much more at ease with his daughter around him. "I think Lily here wants your opinion."

"Oh," he raised an eyebrow. "Did she make all of these?"

Shen laughed. "Well, not exactly. However, she did draw up the designs for the weapons before you. Dimensions, styles, and she asked the soldiers of any specific additions they wanted. She's become quite the weaponsmith recently."

"I've always been," Lily protested. "Well, medieval weapons at least."

"Lily always had an interest in that sort of thing," Shen explained. "Honestly I didn't think much of it, but she sadly has more experience with melee weapon design than most people here. So I figured I'd put her work under your eye." He paused. "Although the designs weren't the tricky part, it was making them durable."

"Well, now I'm curious," the Commander said, looking towards the table of weapons. "Show me what you've done."

"Get the test dummies," Shen asked his daughter, who ran off while he turned and picked up a mace from the table. "I'll first show off the weapons easiest to do. Maces, from what I've learned, only need to damage armor and only cause blunt trauma. Nothing fancy here." He handed the flanged mace to the Commander. "Here."

The Commander tested it, moved it around and took a few mock swings. He was completely unfamiliar with maces, but the head seemed heavy. The entire weapon appeared to be a dark steel, and nothing else. "Seems good," he said, looking at Shen. "Alloys I presume?"

"With a MELD overlay," Shen corrected. "The nanites were programmed to harden over it. It can be damaged, but only by our pulse weapons and plasma. We haven't been able to break it significantly any other way. It should certainly hold up against the Battlemaster's sword."

"Guess we'll find out soon," the Commander muttered, as he saw Lily rolling over a humanoid dummy with alloy armor of some kind over it. "That for practice?" He asked.

"Yep!" Lily said with a grin. "Try it! It's fun!"

"The armor is several centimeters thick, minimum," Shen added as the Commander walked over to the dummy. "It should give you an idea of the damage output."

The Commander raised the mace, which was heavier than he was used to, and brought it down on the dummy's head with all his might. And with perhaps a little too much vigor as the 'helmet' completely caved in and the head was smashed into little white chunks. The Commander lifted the mace, noting that the metal was now almost stuck on the weapon. He shook it off and the remains fell to the ground.

"Perhaps I should have been gentler," he mused, turning back to them. "Even if it won't dent the Battlemaster's armor, it will probably wreck anything else on the battlefield. Well done." He looked down at Lily. "I like the design too. What did you base it off of?"

"A German Mace," she answered proudly. "Although not as spiky as some variants. I made that one more of as a proof-of-concept, Iosif's will be bigger."

"Yes," Shen chuckled. "None of the weapons are designed to the Templar specifications, those will only come after your approval. Each weapon type will be approved before being tailored. Iosif for example seemed to like it…only bigger."

"Can't blame him," the Commander said. "So, what next?"

"The war hammer is essentially the same concept," Shen said, gesturing to the double-headed hammer almost as tall as him. "Forged of alien alloys and with a hardened MELD overlay. You can test it as well, though I can guarantee you'll receive the same result."

"I'll trust you on that," the Commander dismissed with a wave. "Now, you said that was the easy part. What about the bladed weapons?"

"Lily?" Shen called, and the young girl reached for what looked like a standard longsword and handed it to him. To his surprise, the blade was almost…shimmering. Blue reflections appears and vanished on the silver blade as if it was reflecting water. "I wouldn't touch it if I were you," Shen warned, acutely noting his interest. "The largest problem with blades weapons is that, against any sort of defenses, they will suffer damage. They chip, split, and sometimes break. None of which are optimal."

"Agreed," the Commander nodded absentmindedly, turning the sword around in his hand. It certainly felt sturdy enough. "How did you fix it?"

"By using computers," Shen answered with a proud smile of his own. "Embedded in each sword is a small, simple OS that has different states. And the thing is, this sword has a MELD overlay, but unlike the war hammer and mace, the MELD nanites can be in multiple states. Right now, the current mode is repair."

"In essence it repairs any damage to the original structure," he continued, pointing at the blade. "The original design is programmed into their memory, so they can 'rebuild' it, so to speak. Although it isn't permanent and does take nanites to accomplish. In theory you could use all the nanites and the sword would be just…well, a sword."

"Reapplying the MELD is a simple process," Shen reassured, adjusting his glasses. "But you should be aware there are some drawbacks here."

The Commander lowered the weapon. "So, this has multiple states? How many more?"

"Turn the pommel," Shen suggested. The Commander looked down at the square pommel, and noted that there was a design on each side. The one now was currently a wrench. Repair, he assumed. He turned the pommel and it locked with a click once it was even and the blade suddenly turned the same dark gray steel as the blunt weapons. The pommel logo was a shield.

"That hardens the blade to an almost indestructible degree," Shen explained as the Commander turned the blade, marveling at how it didn't seem any heavier. "It was the first variant we developed, since we don't want the blades breaking under the Battlemaster's weapon. To date there is nothing, outside of pulse and plasma weaponry, that can damage the blade. Even edge-on-edge attacks don't weaken or chip the sword."

"And it's just as effective as the other weapons?" The Commander asked, turning to the dummy which still had the chest plate. He drew the weapon back and stabbed into the armor. It definitely didn't go through without resistance, but it impaled through the dummy easily enough. If it worked this well from direct penetration attacks, then it was a success to him.

"Well done," he complimented. "Let's see what's next."

He turned the pommel and this one had a lightning bolt implant. The blade suddenly reverted to its silver color, except now little bolts of electricity lined the blade, zapping in and out of existence within milliseconds. "The ARC setting," Lily explained with a grin. "The nanites generate little jolts of electricity with each other, multiply that by a million and you have a weapon that can short out any mechanical enemy or system."

"In theory," Shen amended gently. "It's worked well on our systems so far, and it would probably be best used on Andromedons, Drones, Cyberdisks and the like. One of the weaker physical blades, but I'm positive that it would stun enemies just from a single strike. Don't discount that."

"Better to have more options than none," the Commander agreed, turning the pommel for a final time. This one had a flame on it. The blade suddenly turned a blazing orange. It wasn't quite red-hot, perhaps orange-hot, but he felt no heat coming from the blade.

"The nanites generate friction together, which makes anything they touch melt," Shen said. "The science is…complicated, but the short version is that this will melt anything it comes in contact with. It's proven rather effective against armor, actually. Though I don't think it would stand up to a direct hit from the Battlemaster."

The Commander switched the blade back to the repair setting and handed it back to Lily. "You outdid yourselves here, both of you. All I wanted was swords and you managed to turn that into a damn Swiss army knife."

"We appreciate that, Commander," Shen smiled. "The greatsword operates virtually the same way, just on a larger scale. We can also apply this technology to other blades, should it be required. Even katanas and scythes, should someone ever want it."

The Commander snorted. "I doubt we'll need scythes. But well done. Have you shown the Templars yet?"

"Not in action," Lily answered. "But they know how it works."

"I'd show them," the Commander suggested. "It would definitely give them something to look forward to. And is the Shinobi proceeding well?"

"Still designing," Shen shrugged. "But I'm close to completing it."

"Good," the Commander said. "I'd get to work on the swords for the Templars. The Battlemaster could strike any day, and I want people ready to respond."

"With pleasure, Commander," Lily beamed, apparently thrilled he was happy. Her joy was infectious, and he almost wished he could be that optimistic. But for right now, he would just enjoy the feeling, even if it was just an echo of the real thing.

The Praesidium, Barracks

The gathering storm had finally broken.

Jamali had been expecting it ever since the Commander had revealed that they were actually sharing a base with a damn Ethereal, and had subsequently started taking people for some new psionic program. Then there was a lot of speculation that the aliens were going to launch another offensive in America, and specifically target Las Vegas.

The aliens had finally attacked, but much later than they had anticipated and in a completely different location.

Jamali flipped his helmet in his hands and placed it on his head. France of all places. And since France wasn't part of ADVENT, and no one had expected such a…brazen attack there, the response was almost nothing. But XCOM was on the way, as was the rest of the French Army. ADVENT would probably respond as well, but it would take hours before they arrived.

Jamali grimaced as he grabbed his pulse rifle. The French were absolutely going to get slaughtered. The tech advantage the aliens had was too large and the French would be lucky to kill a few dozen.

Unless they just used explosives.

The good news was that there had been no reports of the Battlemaster, and they would definitely know by now if he was there. Although there was warning of some new alien construct. A floating mechanical ball if the reports were to be believed. Wonderful. Despite that, the Commander wasn't taking chances and was sending one of his Templars along with them.

Chan he was called, an offensive psion with a massive greatsword held in his hands as he took some practice swipes. Sorry, no Chan had been very specific and called it a Zweihander, as if it made a difference. It was a massive sword that looked dangerous, and clearly forged out of alien alloys and MELD.

Chan had seemed very eager to test it out. Jamali was also reassured that Patricia was going along as well. If anyone could rally the people still alive there, it was her.

"Jamali! Hurry up!" Patricia called, and he decided it was time to stop ruminating, and prepare for the battle ahead.

Supplementary Material

The Advent Directive

SECTION 1: Organization and Structure

Subsection 1.4: ADVENT Member Nations

Overview: Countries which comprise ADVENT are known as member nations, and are afforded representation, funding, law enforcement, and additional support to ensure that each member nation is held to the highest possible standard possible; ensuring that ADVENT is strong enough to withstand any adversary or trial.

Member nations are afforded one representative in the Congress of Nations, and said representative is decided via appointment of the Head of States of a nation. However, the Head of State may take the place of a representative in certain circumstances. All representatives at all levels are expected to be of the highest caliber of candidates, and shall not engage in criminal or treasonous activity, which if ignored, will result in prosecution by the ADVENT Peacekeepers.

Member nations will be given a standing garrison, proportional to the size and population of the nations. The same will be done of the Peacekeeping forces, and the Head of State can directly petition the Executive Branch for additional support if needed. Note that while the soldiers are stationed within the nation, they do not ultimately answer to the Head of State or their cabinet, although they will be part of the leadership. All ADVENT forces ultimately answer to the Commander of the ADVENT Military and the Peacekeepers ultimately answer to the Chief of Peacekeeper Operations.

Taxes and funding directly from the State will be negotiated at the federal level, as there are multiple different variables that must be taken into account, making standardization less effective. But it will vary depending again on the size and population of the country, but ADVENT is committed to making sure every nation succeeds and will never intentionally force poor or malicious decisions on a nation. Should that happen, those responsible will be investigated and prosecuted by the Peacekeepers.

Heads of State are allowed to pick their own cabinet, although candidates must be reviewed by ADVENT Internal Affairs and Oversight to ensure the appointees are truly best suited for the job. This does not apply to levels lower than that of the Head of State, though those must choose from a pool of pre-approved candidates. The Head of State is also permitted to retain their previous title before joining ADVENT, or simply be referred to as the Head of State of a certain nation.

Finally, ADVENT member nations are expected to completely comply to all laws and decisions made by the Congress of Nations, Executive Branch and the Chancellor, and the Judicial Courts. Failure to abide by the laws established will lead to the removal of current leadership, and emergency elections for replacements. Treason and criminal activity will not be tolerated under ADVENT, especially not in the highest levels of government.