XCOM: The Advent Directive

by Xabiar

Australia has been annexed, the United Nations is in chaos, the world is under siege and the Ethereals have taken the field. Facing the full might of the Ethereal Collective, the Commander must rally XCOM, the newly formed ADVENT, and several other allies and rivals to unite the divided nations by any means necessary, for failure now will mean the fall of humanity once and for all.

14. The March Unrelenting

The March Unrelenting

---

Skyranger, En route to Paris, France

Jamali swore he could feel how angry Patricia was.

Given her abilities, he wouldn't be surprised at all if that was the case. But it was a foreign feeling to him. He was no stranger to anger and injustice, but he would describe his output as more…hot. Intense, but would fade after a few minutes and cooler heads prevailed. He was never a persuasive speaker, and always tried to stay out of situations that he knew would risk a confrontation.

Patricia, on the other hand, was as cold as ice. He felt the cold analytical anger affect him, simmering below the surface. Every thought was logical and emotionless, his thoughts were not fury at their actions, but how to methodically disembowel them violently and brutally. He thought he glimpsed thoughts from her own mind, visions of aliens being driven to insanity while she strode through the throng.

But the rest he had a sickening feeling were of his own design. Patricia apparently had the effect of drawing out the darkest parts of people, and he wasn't entirely happy that there was a part of himself that was this…brutal. He knew he had the capability…but he'd never wanted to act on it.

Not until now.

"We're expecting the French army to be heavily outclassed," Patricia finally said, her arms resting on her knees in a deceptively nonchalant manner. "The French have given us the locations of where the fighting is the heaviest. We will be deploying near the Grand Palais, and the Goliath will be dropped near the Pantheon. The UFO supposedly landed at the Eiffel Tower, so that is where we will fight towards."

Jamali noticed the hands of the soldiers in the skyranger were clenched as Patricia's voice became harder. "We suspect they are using Gateway Transports. Only one, it seems. We fight towards them and destroy it. We take no prisoners with the exception of the leader. Kill the rest."

"It will be a pleasure," Catherine nodded, clenching her rifle. Jamali wasn't surprised she sounded even harsher than Patricia. The native Frenchwoman had a much more personal reason for being here than the rest of them, which was a stark contrast to her normally friendly persona.

"What aliens are here?" Iida asked, as calm as always

"They seem to be all Vitakarians," Patricia answered. "Likely Runianarch or Lurainian. Early reports suggest there might be something else in the Transport, but it's likely Outsiders."

"Psion Trask, we are approaching the LZ," Big Sky interjected. "It's looking bad."

"Copy that," Patricia answered calmly, standing. The rest of them quickly stood with her as she walked to the end of the skyranger, the new Templar Chan at her side. The Zweihander was held in a reverse grip, the point on the ground since Chan had no sheath and space was limited. To his eye, Chan seemed rather eager to see combat.

He stood next to Fakhr, and both shared mutual nods as they mentally prepared themselves for battle. As the skyranger dipped, Jamali found himself remarkably calm and the sounds around him slowly faded into the background. They were there, but his concentration was…elsewhere.

Patricia at work, he supposed.

The skyranger ramp opened and all of them charged into the fray. It was, without a doubt, a near rout of the French forces. Human bodies in French uniforms littered the grounds and streets, burned, dismembered, and malformed by alien weapons. A few alien bodies were scattered in the streets, but the majority of the small battlefield was stained with red blood.

They had landed behind the main alien force that was advancing, and there were more coming up from the side, as the French seemed to be making a last stand in the middle of a giant intersection, hiding behind concrete barricades and what limited cover there was. Jamali instinctively fell to one knee and aimed at a Vitakarian soldier and fired. The red laser instantly slammed into its face and it fell dead.

Patricia's body was enveloped in a shimmering, and faintly purple field of energy, and she extended her hands towards both groups of aliens, along with the snarled message. "Kill them all."

The effects were almost instantaneous. The main group attacking the French suddenly began fighting amongst themselves, and the reinforcements suddenly fell to the ground, screaming in apparent pain. Jamali immediately moved towards the crippled reinforcements and fired short pulse laser blasts at the writing bodies. Fakhr and Liliyane assisted him in executing the hapless aliens and after a few minutes all the bodies stopped wriggling.

Jamali turned to see how the much larger alien group was being handled, and then saw the results of giving Chan a sword. If Patricia was lightly covered by psionic energy, Chan was engulfed in purple flames. These extended to his Zweihander which was wreathed in purple energy and seemed to only be making the damage worse.

Chan cut his way through the infighting Vitakarians with an emphasis on brutality. The swipes were wide enough to cut through multiple aliens at once, and he seemed to like leaving the ones not killed instantly to bleed to death on the ground. While decapitating a Borelian with one hand, he raised the opposite one and purple energy shot out from it and ravaged a couple of Vitakarians in the faces.

The rest of the XCOM soldiers assisted in executing the wounded Vitakarians not cut up by Chan and his sword. The French had stopped firing, seemingly not wanting to risk wounding the Templar that was cutting through the alien horde, which was still being affected by Patricia, and not even able to focus on the blade-wielding soldier as he cut them to pieces.

All of them advanced through the remnants of the alien force, who were incapable of retreating. Scattered and crazed by fighting each other, it was almost too easy for Jamali to pick off strays and the rest of them performed just as well. Catherine and Blake rushed to the French line, presumably to help treat injuries, while Patricia strode up to a Vitakarian soldier who was screaming on the ground, and roughly grabbed it by the head, and stood there for a few seconds.

Once she was done, she threw the soldier down and pulled out her gauss pistol and shot her in the head. A few more minutes of slaughtering the aliens, and the battlefield was almost silent. The psionic energy around both Patricia and Chan had faded, and Jamali noted that the dark gray of Chan's sword was smudged and black.

"I have the location where the UFO is," Patricia stated, as she marched over to the French line. "We fight towards it on our own. It doesn't appear that the aliens have forces that can combat me; at least they didn't tell the soldiers about it."

Catherine rushed up with what appeared to be a ranking French officer who looked both parts relieved they had arrived, and terrified after seeing what eight XCOM soldiers had done. "I assume he is the ranking offer?" Patricia asked, looking to Catherine.

"Yes," she answered. "He-"

"It doesn't matter," Patricia interrupted, raising a hand. "Tell him I know where the UFO is and we're going to destroy it. Tell him to have his superiors contact ADVENT if by some miracle they haven't. We move out once you deliver that."

Catherine quickly translated it to the officer while Patricia turned to them. "We need to wrap this up quickly. I have a feeling this isn't a true attack. The information I extracted from the soldier's mind indicated they were to cause as much damage to the military as possible and leave. This is a diversion to something."

Jamali could easily imagine the scowl under Chan's helmet. "You get that, Commander?"

"I did," he confirmed grimly. "However we don't have anything else to go on yet. Everything is normal."

"I'll keep you appraised," Patricia stated as Catherine jogged up to them, signaling her readiness with a nod. "We move out now. I'll let you know before we engage, but I don't expect these aliens will pose a challenge to me."

And with that, they marched off, Patricia leading the charge with the Templar at her side, the blade already soaked in golden blood.

---

The Cultro

"XCOM has entered the battle," the CODEX system informed the Battlemaster as he flew over the desert sands, a small fleet of alien transports behind him. "Lura'irinena'borelia has reported that Patricia Trask is leading the attack, and a Goliath-class MEC is also fighting against her forces. In addition, there appears to be a few types of XCOM soldier. A psion wielding a greatsword, presumably in conjunction with his abilities. More information has yet to be obtained. At this point they are quickly marching toward the Gateway Transport."

Well, that was unexpected.

Aegis was likely behind such an idea. He was rather impressed, honestly. These new XCOM soldiers had to be a direct response to him. Pale imitations of what a Battlemaster was, for sure, but it was an attempt that he was pleased they had undertaken. Perhaps it was foolish to dismiss them immediately, but he had faced down legions of Synthesized hordes, the best militaries of far more advanced species, and even once a Director Flagship.

At best they would make his conquest here more interesting. Hopefully.

"Time to Las Vegas?" He asked the CODEX.

Her golden figure flashed briefly. "Ten minutes. Additionally, we have officially attracted the attention of ADVENT forces. Defenses are likely being raised."

"Good," he nodded. "Order Irinena to retreat and deploy the Gatekeeper. The Creator has assured me that it can…disrupt…telepaths. I am curious to see if that is the case. Also order her to destroy the Eiffel Tower."

"At once, Battlemaster." She flashed again and disappeared. A few seconds later the forms of Disciple-7 and J'Loran appeared.

"Begin your assault," he commanded. "I am close to Las Vegas and XCOM will respond soon. Take the cities and wipe out all the soldiers. We have no need of prisoners today."

Disciple-7, in his full armor and helmet, gave a brief nod. "At once, Battlemaster. Portland will fall today."

"As will Seattle," J'Loran added. "Burn Las Vegas to the ground. J'Loran out."

The two forms vanished and the CODEX figure appeared once more in front of him. "Initial scans of the city do not reveal any trace of nuclear weaponry or activity. However, there are large amounts of high-explosive materials laced throughout the city and perimeter. In addition, there appear to be a minimum of fifty thousand soldiers heavily entrenched in the city. I have also detected multiple mechanical manned and unmanned platforms. Aircraft is limited, but air support is likely."

Good, the Humans had actually prepared for a fight, and he was curious to see what, if anything, they had learned from their first engagement with him. Many of his soldiers would likely die today, but he certainly would not. Overall, it was on the surface looking to be invigorating if nothing else.

Two armies facing each other in battle. It had been too long since he had participated in such, and hopefully XCOM didn't disappoint him when they finally appeared.

A low growl reached his ears and he glanced down at the tiger Quisilia had gifted him with, now very much improved. Farath, he'd decided to call him, since Quisilia insisted he needed to name it. The Battlemaster had grudgingly accepted that maybe the animal wouldn't be as useless as he feared, now that Fectorian had turned it into a cybernetic terror, and it was admittedly nice to have a somewhat loyal companion that didn't need much.

Of course the creature had tried to attack him several times, to no effect of course, but it had eventually been broken in and was a rather efficient killer, and Fectorian had made sure that the creature was conditioned to never attack again, and had included specific code phrases he could use if he absolutely needed to take direct control. Although Fectorian wasn't sure that would be necessary, since he did note that this creature was fairly intelligent.

Intimidating was the word the Battlemaster would have personally chosen, given the modifications. He wasn't sure of the exact procedures Fectorian had used, but he was aware that specific implants had been inserted into various sections of the tiger's body, which allowed heavy armor to be attached and removed at will. The armor itself covered the entire body and legs, while leaving the pads of the feet and tail untouched.

It was a sleek black, and the armor was configured in such a way that allowed a full range of motion, and the Battlemaster knew Fectorian had also cybernetically enhanced the bones and joints to allow it to carry the additional weight, and replaced elements like the teeth and claws with alloy alternatives which would allow penetration of ADVENT soldier armor.

Needless to say, the Battlemaster had been pleased with the result, and for the most part, Farath acted the same aside from not attacking him randomly. Which he appreciated. But today would be the first real test, both for the animal and Fectorian's work, since the engineer had himself declared it an experiment.

The Battlemaster rested an armored hand on Farath's head, as they waited to reach their location. The CODEX appeared once more. "We are outside the city perimeter. Landing now and sending orders to remaining transports. Authorization?"

"Granted." The Battlemaster declared with a nod.

The CODEX vanished and the Cultro dipped and within half a minute, had come to a stop and the Battlemaster felt it rest on the ground. The metal panel over the exit slid up and the multicolored barrier dissipated and the Battlemaster felt a rush of hot air enter the Overseer. Gripping his sword, he marched out into the desert with the shining city in the distance, his feline warrior at his side.

In the distance, he spotted the ADVENT encampments. In sight of them, he raised his sword in a salute, thousands of alien soldiers behind him disembarking. The Cultro rose and flew up into the air. The Battlemaster lowered his sword and spoke into his link with the CODEX. "Begin the transmission."

---

The Praesidium, Mission Control

So he'd been right in suspecting that the Paris attack wasn't what it seemed.

The Battlemaster wasn't an idiot. He knew there was no way to hold a city like Paris without an actual army, and while the French were horribly outmatched, ADVENT was marching to the city and XCOM was already there and annihilating their forces. It seemed to be going exceptionally, which made him immediately suspicious.

Which was why he and Jackson had decided to prepare two additional squads and had sent them off to the Citadel if the Battlemaster decided to attack in America again. The worst that would happen is that nothing happened and this was just a poor tactical decision by the Battlemaster. But if the Battlemaster did attack, XCOM could be the difference between victory or defeat.

Jackson echoed his thoughts. "I'm glad we sent the skyrangers."

The Commander only nodded as the hologlobe lit up with reports of the cities coming under attack. Seattle and Portland again, and Las Vegas as the Battlemaster had warned. The good news was that every city was prepared for an attack and wouldn't fall easily, especially with XCOM support. However, they had only two skyranger teams, and there were three cities.

So choices had to be made. Seattle would get support, since the city was heavily contested, and the video on the screen now playing confirmed that Las Vegas would be receiving the second squad. The video had suddenly begun streaming on every social media and video streaming service minutes ago, and it was providing a bird's eye view of the ADVENT defenders, and the aliens marching on their position.

Lead by the Battlemaster.

The Templars were going to get a trial by fire today. There were standing orders to retreat if too many died, but the Commander wondered if even the Templars would last that long, given how quickly the Battlemaster could kill his enemies. But it shouldn't be a slaughter like San Francisco.

Hopefully.

ADVENT was already mobilizing the Air Force to bomb the alien armies to dust, with plans and contingencies that had been developed being put into motion. Even if it was futile, there were plans to deal with the Battlemaster, even if the usefulness of them was questionable. But it wasn't as though there was a choice.

Commander Christiaens was also in constant communication with Zhang in the Situation Room, which he would be heading to in a few minutes, and no doubt the Chancellor was being appraised of the situation. He pursed his lips. Win or lose, this was going to likely have a net loss for ADVENT in terms of support and morale. Full-scale attacks on major cities in such a short time would be difficult for civilians to endure without some kind of damage.

No question about it now. If Seattle fell, Canada would have to give up their morally superior attitude and play ball with ADVENT. The United States could not be lost, and there needed to be significant steps taken to prevent that. Hopefully the Prime Minister would understand that, though given how Saudia described him, that didn't seem likely.

Damn civilians.

If he thought Saudia was being unfair in their meeting, he was really not going to like her when she was angry. Unlikely most people in power, Saudia was not hesitant to make extremely controversial decisions. And if he made himself her enemy, his days in power were numbered.

That was a worst-case scenario though. Portland could probably be held, even without XCOM support. Seattle might be able to be as well, depending on the enemy composition and force size. Las Vegas was unlikely at best, now that the Battlemaster was in play with an entire army. But if the majority of the army could be killed, that was as close to a victory as they could get.

Jackson nodded at a voice coming in through her headset. "Dodger and Marlin Teams are approaching the cities. We should move to the Situation Room."

"Agreed," the Commander nodded as he turned to leave Mission Control. "Have Zhang prepare the armor cams and holotable. And keep that video running in the background. If the Battlemaster wants to give us more information, we'll take it."

Jackson conveyed his instructions, a hand on her headset earpiece, as they made their way to the Situation Room.

---

Las Vegas, United States of America

The Battlemaster was immediately besieged by thousands of gauss bullets and tank rounds flying at him. All of them bounced off his armor or missed him entirely. The majority of the forces behind him were Andromedons, and behind those were Muton Grenadiers and Runianarch Demolitionists.

He had come to destroy the city, and that was what he was going to do.

ADVENT was formed up in defensive lines of a dozen soldiers behind a chest-high black barricade, and those were scattered along the perimeter of the city. Tanks were behind those, and they were firing fairly rapidly, not always at him, but assuredly at the army at his back. No point in wasting time.

The Battlemaster leapt up into the air, picked a front-line group of soldiers, and charged, psionic energy flowing off of him and an armored hand tightened into a fist. It landed in the chest of an ADVENT soldier, caving in her armor and he decapitated two more with a single swipe. He immediately transitioned into several quick slices that dismembered several more ADVENT soldiers.

"Blow it!" Someone screamed.

The Battlemaster knew instantly that he needed to get out of the immediate vicinity and quickly dashed backwards as the barricade itself exploded with several bright explosions, killing one of the remaining soldiers, and throwing the survivors to the ground, shrapnel riddling their armor. With a flourish of his blade, the Battlemaster turned his attention to the next group, who was now focusing on him.

Well, they were learning at least.

The Officers were shouting orders and frantically reorganizing soldiers in the back rows, but he decided to deal with that later. He dashed towards the second group, performed several quick slices and dashed away, leaving several dismembered corpses in his wake. A few seconds later he charged forward again, grabbed the heads of two soldiers with free hands and smashed their skulls into the barricade with enough force to preemptively set off the explosives which he immediately dashed away from, though feeling the rush of heat and wind in his wake.

He was suddenly throw back several feet from a tank blast, and he quickly spun to face the threat from the back. ADVENT Rocketeers were also firing grenade launchers towards him, and instead of dashing out of the way, he raised a hand and telekinetically caught the explosives in the air, and sent them back at their source with a flick of his hand.

He ignored the screams and explosions as he surveyed the new battlefield. His army was close enough now that they were beginning to exchange plasma fire with the ADVENT gauss weapons. Lances of green were striking dozens of soldiers every second, and even when the Andromedon line was damaged, they were simply phased out and replaced by a healthy soldiers while the Battlefield Engineers fixed the others.

The Runianarch and Muton soldiers were far behind the line, and were firing their own explosives up in the air, lighting up multiple ADVENT positions and blowing up valuable vehicles and barricades. "Light them up!" One officer screamed right before his life ended with a stab to the face.

The ground was suddenly rocked as the desert behind him exploded. Nearly half of the front-line Andromedon force was on the ground, helmets broken and armor sparking. Most of the Andromedons hit were clearly dead, and there were at minimum several hundred Mutons and Vitakara who had also perished.

Restraint. Impressive.

ADVENT was smart enough to know that explosives would probably not hurt him, so they hadn't wasted them on him, and instead waited for the army to step over them and then detonate. He'd best be careful if he didn't want to lose too many more soldiers. He was already underestimating their forces, best not to do it anymore.

Disruption in the back lines was needed, and so he charged towards the tank line which immediately began trying to maneuver away from him, to no avail. With one palm turned over, he telekinetically lifted one tank into the air, and threw it towards an ADVENT barricade which exploded in a shower of fire and metal.

He dashed toward another ADVENT line, grabbed one of the Rocketeers and threw her at another tank and she hit with enough force to explode, destroying the main barrel and rendering it inoperable. He then methodically made his way through the line of tanks, cutting off the barrels or damaging the tanks in other ways, stabbing in vital areas or reducing mobility.

He'd been sure to study the schematics after San Francisco.

Farath was also proving rather effective against the ADVENT soldiers, with bullets washing off his battle armor like water, and he seemed to be enjoying ripping the throats out of various ADVENT soldiers, while the others either tried to frantically retreat or fire at the armored feline. The cat was also smart enough to at least try to dodge explosives, although the armor was certainly dented and scorched, indicating that he had taken a few explosive hits.

"Battlemaster, ADVENT aircraft approaching. Fighter and bomber class," The CODEX informed him though their link.

Would they risk airstrikes so close to friendly forces? Probably not a good idea to find out. "Request a squadron of Sectoid Fighters," he ordered as he stabbed a Gunner through the chest. "All forces, charge the ADVENT line!"

A roar overhead caught his attention and he saw a squad of ADVENT fighters shoot overhead, missiles releasing and speeding towards his approaching army. Most of them took out multiple Andromedons, though thankfully mostly the damaged ones that were shambling forward, driven on only by their AI systems.

Still, they were already swooping around for another round. The Battlemaster gripped his blade tightly in his hands as he cut through another line of ADVENT soldiers, his blade now crimson and splattered with stained sand. He'd made a mistake disregarding the air force they had, seeing as how they hadn't used it well initially. A mistake he would not repeat after this.

ADVENT also appeared to be retreating into the city, and he noted it was towards the apparently famous Las Vegas Strip, the heart of the city. It was clearly a strategic retreat, since it couldn't yet be said they had lost enough to warrant a full one. Another aircraft roared overhead, this one the distinctive shape of a bomber.

The Battlemaster watched as a hatch opened on the belly of it, and dozens of small bombs fell out, and a bright line of explosions followed, one that killed hundreds more instantly and wounded even more from the shrapnel. More fatally damaged Andromedons rose from the sands, like metallic zombies as they resumed attacking retreating ADVENT forces further into the city.

"Air support has arrived," the CODEX informed him as a dozen Sectoid crafts suddenly sped overhead and began engaging the ADVENT forces, but the Battlemaster saw more of the Human fighters flying in. It was going to result in a victory, but it would likely be a more costly one than he was anticipating.

He dashed towards various stragglers, executing them with single strokes of his sword, and the army behind him was now at his side, far smaller than before. From a simple visual standpoint, he had lost at least a third of his forces, even if the casualties ADVENT had suffered were equal or greater. But now they had the advantage, and destruction was the goal.

"Begin razing the city," the Battlemaster ordered the demolitionists and grenadiers as he slowly advanced forward, crimson cape flapping in the wind. "ADVENT will be dealt with."

The ground began shaking as pristine, expensive buildings and hotels began being bombarded with plasma explosives, and Contamination Operatives poisoned the areas around the buildings, which would render them uninhabitable for decades.

And the army behind him marched forward, unrelenting in their quest for victory, led by the invincible Ethereal who was now only waiting for the inevitable challenge by XCOM.

---

Paris, France

"They're falling back," Jamali noted as he saw the Vitakara retreating through the streets, those that were either ignored or out of the range of Patricia's mind control. "Why?"

"I would guess they don't have a special counter to psions," Iida said as she shot a Vitakarian in the leg, and then finished him off with a bolt to the head. "But I don't like it either."

"We're getting close," Patricia interrupted, as the Eiffel Tower loomed close by in the distance. "Six Dath'Haram are about to ambush you, Chan. Should I intervene?"

The Templar was finishing off a Borelian, stabbing it through the heart, psionic energy rolling off the blade. "Only if they fight you," he stated as he pulled the blade from the body and turned to face the new threats as they leapt down from the buildings. These were the green-skinned Vitakara, Dath'Haram, covered in dark green clothing interspersed with silver armor coverings on the chest, arms and legs.

In their hands they held blades of their own, straight ones with no hilt. Almost medieval like were it not for the ornate handles and that the blades had been clearly covered in some kind of red fluid. Right now Jamali couldn't tell if it was some kind of poison or blood, but it was apparent that these aliens knew how to use them.

Two of them scored hits on the back of Chan, though those bounced off the armor, and he retaliated by blasting one of them in the face with psionic energy from the raised hand, and began fighting off the other three with his blade. The Dath'Haram quickly realized that they faced the problem of their blades being too weak to stand up for long.

Perhaps if Chan's blade wasn't awash in purple flame, they could have prolonged the duel, but as it stood, each clash was visibly weakening the temperament of the metal. There were gouges and scorch marks on the metal after each blade met with Chan's Zweihander. From what he could tell, they appeared to be mostly assassin weapons, not supposed to be used for any real dueling. They seemed too thin and short to be of any real use.

Two of them made the mistake of trying to attack Patricia who simply gestured at them, and they fell to the ground, writhing and screaming in the high-pitched alien wails. Jamali and Fakhr executed both of them with quick shots to the head. The remaining Dath'Haram were certainly trying to kill Chan, but it was simply not going to happen.

With a wide swing, Chan cut through both the blade the alien was using, and subsequently, his head. The momentum of the swing carried over to the next alien who got out of the way, but not fast enough before Chan raised his right hand and the Dath'Haram was suddenly engulfed by purple energy. The last alien he finished off with a quick stab to the heart after shattering the blade of the Dath'Haram with a strike of his sword.

All the aliens dead, they proceeded towards the location of the UFO, and finally came out into the area of the Eiffel Tower, the Gateway Transport landed right in front of it. And guarding it were at least several hundred Vitakara of various types. All of whom were shouting and pointing at the new arrivals.

"Cover!" Patricia shouted as their area was swarmed with plasma weapons fire within seconds. Jamali slid into a small concrete column, and most of the other soldiers followed suit. He heard Catherine scream as a several plasma bolts hit her in the armor, and the small gap in her shoulder. Not fatal, but she was clearly in pain as she pulled herself to a short concrete block.

"I'm fine!" She wheezed as she calmly pulled out her med-kit and began spraying the sizzling wounds. Jamali did actually believe her. If there was anyone who could say that after being shot, it would be a medic.

Patricia was once more distorted from drawing upon psionic energy of her own. "Give me a second," she advised as she stood. "There are more here than I thought. I want to try something."

Plasma bolts flying all around her, she extended a hand towards the mass of barricaded and entrenched aliens, and as the bolts became ever more accurate, she closed a fist and Jamali could almost swear he heard a deafening snap echo across the entire area. He glanced over to see Liliyane shake her head, and Fakhr and Blade exchange looks of confusion. Iida inhaled sharply and the purple energy enshrining Chan flickered and he stiffened like a statue.

Everything went silent for one brief, small, second.

Then madness broke out.

Jamali watched in fascinated horror as the once united aliens suddenly turned into shrieking crazed maniacs. Some of them still continued to attack XCOM, but the shots were wild and didn't even seem close to intentional. No, they were focused on attacking each other. But this clearly wasn't the same as Patricia directing them to turn on themselves.

She appeared to have quite literally driven them insane.

Liliyane turned to glance at Patricia who now slowly lowered her arm, and quickly looked away. "Shit."

"They'll be occupied and should pose little threat," Patricia stated calmly as she motioned them to move towards the UFO. "Catherine, how are your wounds."

"Fine," she grunted, walking noticeably stiffer, even if her rifle was at the ready. "Won't be as fast as normal, but I'll live."

"Acceptable," Patricia nodded, as she gestured as Vitakara in their way collapsed onto the ground, and the soldiers only spending brief seconds shooting them in the heads. Jamali almost considered it a mercy at this point. "I'd prefer we take the Gateway intact, but if need be, we destroy it. Expect Outsiders."

"I'm curious how they'll stand up to this," Chan commented as he stabbed downwards on a neutralized Borelian. "Psionic-" He stiffened, and fell to one knee. Patricia's also calm walk turned to a shuffle and she rested a hand on her helmet.

"Patricia?" Iida demanded, moving forward to grab an arm to steady her, while Jamali grabbed the opposite one. "What's wrong?"

"Look!" Fakhr shouted, raising her rifle. Out of the UFO came four massive Outsiders, and in the center was a…floating ball?

That's what it seemed to be, anyway. A perfect white sphere with a glowing orange 'eye' in the middle. The ground under it was slightly distorted from the propulsion systems likely installed, but it didn't appear to be anything more than that. It moved effortlessly through the air, oddly graceful as it swooped to a stop and appeared to notice them.

"What the hell?" Chan gasped, grunting and grasping the Zweihander with two hands. "What's wrong with that thing? Patricia, can you feel it?"

Patricia had stabilized, and was, for the first time, reaching for her heavy autorifle. "I can feel it," she said, her voice still slightly distorted. "It's interfering with my psionics. I think it's overwhelming me by psionically projecting its state over the entire area."

Jamali froze. "That thing is psionic?"

"I think so," Patricia said slowly as the odd alien squad began moving towards them. "And it's screaming."

---

Las Vegas, United States of America

Even with three Templars in the squad, Nuan did not have a good feeling about this mission. As far as she could tell, the squad had been designed specifically to counter the Battlemaster, and besides the three Templars, Iosif, Karen and Carmelita, there were the two snipers, Cassandra and Esinam, and two infantry for dealing with the other aliens, Antoni and Aya.

And herself, who would have the distinct pleasure of testing out some of the new grenade types, and the effectiveness of them against the Battlemaster. There was some kind of irony that despite her efforts at trying to stay alive, she was getting thrown into against perhaps the most dangerous being in the galaxy.

Armed with grenades.

Which she would normally consider fairly reliable, had she forgotten that the Battlemaster was a telekinetic and could turn them away with a gesture. She supposed that was what the Templars were here for: to distract him from the other XCOM squad members.

"What is the status on the advance?" Karen asked, one of her short swords resting idly in her hand, a cold dark steel. They were unlike any that Nuan had seen before, shorter than most swords, and they lacked a guard of any kind. Probably made it easier for Karen to telekinetically throw them.

"ADVENT is fighting back, but they've pushed their way a quarter down the Strip and are expanding outward," Iosif answered grimly, the head of his mace resting on the ground. "They are also destroying everything in their way. The Battlemaster is at the front as expected."

"So what do you want us to do?" Cassandra asked, her sniper rifle resting against her knees, nodding towards Esinam beside her. "Target the Battlemaster as well or assist ADVENT?"

"Assist ADVENT at the beginning," Iosif ordered. "We need to halt their advance, and the three of us can deal with the Battlemaster. Nuan, Antoni, and Aya, the three of you stay back and hold the line against the aliens, Nuan, if you see an opportunity, use your grenades."

Nuan swallowed and nodded. "Yes, Overseer."

"I am best able to face the Battlemaster one-on-one," Iosif continued, raising a palm and a small purple shield manifested before them as he made his point. "I can take hits even if I'll try to avoid them. Karen, you'll try and keep him in place with your weapons and telekinesis and Carmelita…" he glanced over at the final Templar as if not sure what to do. "Hit his flanks when he is distracted. I've seen you kill pretty much anything at close range, so see if you can add an Ethereal to your list."

Nuan had been uneasy around the woman for a while now, ever since their first heated exchange. She had looked downright nice compared to the armored terror before Nuan now. Her armor was night black, with the small visor in her helmet a pale white. Several high-explosive grenades were strapped to her waist, and on her back was her alloy cannon and in her hands was an actual flail of all weapons, which Nuan didn't entirely understand.

Combined with her Iron Skin and Stinger modification, she was walking death for anything close to her.

But still, a flail?

"Heads up," Burning Sky informed them as the skyranger suddenly dipped. "We're coming in hot. Can't stay long on the ground, explosions are everywhere. There's a massive dogfight above as well. Guess ADVENT remembered they have planes."

The lights flashed to a solid red and Iosif stood, and they all prepared to disembark. Nuan was beside Karen, who pulled out her second sword and held it in a reverse grip. The skyranger shuddered, and the sounds of screaming, gauss weapons and plasma suddenly became audible. One hand gripping his mace, Iosif raised the free one and a shimmering purple barrier appeared in front of them.

"Advance!" He ordered as the ramp opened up and they charged out into the streets.

"Moving to higher ground!" Esinam called, speaking for the first time as he and Cassandra ran towards opposite buildings to establish their positions.

"Copy!" Iosif acknowledged as ADVENT realized that XCOM was here. There were some audible cheers, quickly drowned out by the constant barrage of explosions in the distance. Nuan almost stumbled from the shockwaves in the ground every few seconds as she took in the scene before her.

She had never been to Vegas, and only knew it by reputation. It was never a place she ever wanted to visit, but she had to admit it was a beautiful city, if drowning in excess at times. And it said something that even in the midst of a battle, it still retained some of its magnificence. But only where the aliens hadn't touched it yet.

What ADVENT controlled was simply marred, broken windows and scorched walls disturbed the hotels and casinos around them. There was even a small amusement park, she noticed. But in the distance, the aliens were leaving nothing behind.

Every building that wasn't blown apart and collapsed was on fire, and that fire was spreading. She winced as a hotel in the distance collapsed, shaking the ground in a deafening crash. The massive black pyramid structure she'd seen pictures of was completely ruined, a smoking and deformed structure of black metal and glass.

And the aliens themselves were still advancing, and she got her first glimpse of the Battlemaster. He towered over even the Andromedons behind him, and somehow seemed even taller in person. His charging ability was just as terrifying, as he seemed to move between doomed groups to soldiers within seconds. She gripped her weapon tighter as she saw him kill an Officer and three other soldiers within five seconds with a few swipes of the massive bloody sword he held in his hands.

"Let's get started," she heard Carmelita mutter as she reached for her alloy cannon. "Engage, Overseer?"

"Let me get his attention first," Iosif ordered, stopping in the middle of the street, the psionic barrier protecting the ADVENT line on the Strip and the soldiers beside him. The Battlemaster had definitely noticed now, and was just standing there, waiting. "Get into cover," he ordered the non-Templars while Karen and Carmelita flanked him. "Don't engage unless you have an opportunity."

Nuan nodded and dashed behind an ADVENT barricade, and Antoni and Aya did the same, roughly spread out across the ADVENT line. Iosif let the shield drop when they were in position and twirled his mace in a flourish, until the head was pointed at the opposite army. "Battlemaster!"

The massive Ethereal glanced behind him and raised a free fist and the Andromedons stopped advancing, though still continued firing. Nuan thought she saw one of them give a slight nod, and almost immediately a few Battlefield Engineers began rushing forward, carrying those shield generators she knew had been used in Japan.

The gap between the alien and ADVENT line was still large, the entire width of the Strip and at least twenty meters between the armies. The Battlemaster clearly wanted some room to properly duel the Templars. The armored Ethereal took a forward stance, his own weapon raised in a salute. "Come, XCOM, show me what Aegis has taught you."

Iosif gestured, and the Templars beside him immediately sprang into action. Karen nodded towards Nuan who pulled out a smoke grenade and tossed it to her, who telekinetically caught it and then blasted the grenade towards the Battlemaster, who just stood calmly by as the smoke engulfed him as Carmelita leapt towards him, firing her alloy cannon already.

Iosif's entire body was covered in a personal psionic shield as he sprinted forward, gesturing towards Carmelita as the Battlemaster made his first move, and sliced at her. His blade was stopped cold by the small purple square that appeared in front of it, and he responded by extending a lower hand and Carmelita was suddenly blasted against a concrete wall form a telekinetic throw.

He immediately turned his attention towards Iosif who was preparing a first rapid strike, likely on one of the legs since the Battlemaster towered over him. The Battlemaster responded by performing a deceptively fast slash against him and Iosif barely managed to turn the blade upwards, deflecting it towards the sky.

Karen had gone around the other side of the Battlemaster, and now her swords were somehow covered in electricity, sparking with blue discharges and she telekinetically tossed one towards the Battlemaster which naturally deflected away, but it did seem to have briefly startled him as he spun to her position, of which she had already moved away from.

In the meantime, ADVENT and the aliens were still exchanging fire, less so than before for fear of hitting the ones in the middle. The Andromedons were establishing a red shield that provided ample cover, while allowing them to shoot back. Nuan saw that ADVENT was immediately rotating out the regular infantry, and replacing them with Grenadiers and Rocketeers.

She nodded in approval, she couldn't be too distracted by the fight taking place in front of her.

Iosif was keeping the Battlemaster busy, always attempting to strike wherever he could, and always blocked or dodged by the Battlemaster who still seemed content to not use his charge abilities, or any more telekinesis beyond the blast against Carmelita.

That worried her.

Carmelita herself was doing exactly what she was ordered, flanking the Battlemaster when he was focused on Iosif and Karen. She now had her flail in hand and was continually attempting quick strikes with it when she tried quick leap-by attacks. She scored several hits, but only on the heavily armored back, and as far as Nuan could tell, she was doing no damage whatsoever.

Karen was still trying her tactic of throwing her electrified blades, but it was clear the Battlemaster was getting close to ignoring her. While not even looking at her, he raised a free hand while attempting a downward strike at Iosif and telekinetically caught the sword in mid-air, then sent it back slow enough to clearly mock her.

Carmelita tried another leaping flank attack and this time with lightning speed the Battlemaster thrust out with free hands at Iosif and Karen, the former of whom managed to resist the blast, but was briefly stunned, and sending the latter several feet back until she telekinetically stabilized herself. Immediately after that he spun and caught Carmelita in the air, and charged, reappearing a short distance away with Carmelita slammed into a nearby building, cracking it where she'd impacted.

The Battlemaster must have charged again, as he appeared once more in the center of the street, two of the three Templars briefly incapacitated and a low rumble reached her ears through the exchanged fire between the armies.

Laughter. The Ethereal was laughing.

Dread threatened to take over as the Battlemaster almost mockingly walked towards Iosif who prepared once more to defend as Carmelita shakily rose and Karen was clearly trying to figure out how to be effective.

This, Nuan concluded, was not going well.

---

Seattle, United States of America

"Deploy!" Creed ordered and all of them charged out into a battlefield that was far larger than any Oliver had ever seen before. Entire buildings had been leveled in the constant siege between alien and ADVENT forces, and the other side had the oppressive barrier of Andromedon energy shields protecting them.

There were small windows where the Andromedons and other aliens were fighting through, but there was a clear advantage towards the aliens, even if ADVENT had established an equally long black metal barricade, and was also using the buildings still standing as bases and establishments. It was a black metal wall manned by men and women constantly.

The no-man's land in the center was nothing but charred and destroyed rubble and concrete. Rotting corpses of alien and human bodies were laid in the center, no side willing to attempt to recover their dead in the face of gauss and plasma fire. But now the aliens were launching a full attack again and ADVENT was just as willing to defend.

"I'm getting into position!" Lesedi called and she immediately jumped onto the nearby wall of a building and began climbing up. Oliver would have found it strange at any other time, but he didn't care as plasma fire was uncomfortably close by. The ADVENT soldiers and Officers made room for all of them as they charged up to the barricade, and Oliver got a good look at the actual situation.

The Andromedon line behind the shield was interspersed with Muton soldiers, and he could unfortunately see there were a lot of them. Although it was worse since hovering above the shield were deployed Cyberdisks, raining blazing projectiles down upon them. Above the sky there were full dogfights in motion as ADVENT jets shot at UFO fighters, although the UFOs seemed to currently have the upper hand.

"Strategy?" Oliver called to Creed, who was beginning to fire at one of the Andromedons with his pulse rifle.

"Take down the shield," Creed stated, as their Rocketeer, Nio, took aim at the one of the shield projectors. "Gloria, prepare to barrage the line."

"Copy," Gloria Page, one of the new MEC pilots answered. "Establishing position."

Oliver glanced back at the massive machine as she planted the feet of her Ballista-Class MEC in the ground, and raised her arms, and the rocket launchers on her shoulders began to prime in preparation for the order. Creed nodded toward Matthew. "Take it out."

"With pleasure," Matthew stated, a smile clear in his voice. "Allison, some protection?"

"On it," Allison nodded, and extended her hand, psionic energy manifesting around it. Matthew was then encased in a shimmering psionic shield and stepped out onto the battlefield. He immediately attracted attention, and was immediately shot at by Cyberdisk rounds and plasma bolts, the latter of which were simply absorbed by the shield, and the former he telekinetically stopped in the air.

He extended a hand towards one of the Cyberdisks, as if grabbing it. The metal around the machine groaned and sparked, and Oliver watched in fascination as it was slowly crumpled into a ball of fluid and metal. He threw his arm to the ground, and the wreck was thrown into the bottom of the shield generators, and the entire area around the generator flickered momentarily.

"Lesedi! Jose! Nio! Fire!" Creed commanded. Nio and Jose fired his rocket at the weakened area and Lesedi began taking shots at the Battlefield Engineers that were coming to assist, driving them back momentarily as the rocket destroyed another shield generator, and then an entire section was suddenly offline.

Matthew extended his hands to another Cyberdisk and repeated the procedure, and another section of the shield was collapsed. "Barrage their position!" Creed ordered as the now-exposed aliens began scrambling back. The ground was wracked with tremors and booms filled the air as Gloria unloaded her arsenal on the exposed aliens.

Oliver felt some measure of satisfaction as he watched the missiles rain down upon the Mutons and Andromedons, most of them destroyed beyond repair or recovery. Then the aliens appeared to switch tactics entirely. All of the nearby Cyberdisks retracted into disks and flew behind enemy lines.

"Potential issue," Lesedi reported worriedly. "Muton Elites incoming, and Berserkers. They started reorganizing once the shield began coming down. I just couldn't see until now."

"How many?" Matthew demanded, as he lifted massive concrete chunks and tossed them at the enemy line.

"At least twenty Elites," Lesedi answered, another Muton falling from one of her shots. "Shit. Ten Berserkers at least. We might have made a mistake bringing that shield down. They definitely know we're here."

"We can handle that," Allison said, still focusing on protecting Matthew. "But the Berserkers need to be stopped. I can't maintain this while moving."

"Ready barrage and rockets again," Creed instructed, as he looked around at the ADVENT soldiers. "We've got Berserkers incoming! Prepare to fire on incoming on my command! Officers, ready your soldiers."

"Will do, sir!" One of the Officers stated, tapping a button on her wrist. "Going to inform the Corporal Williams about the situation."

"Do that," Creed said, as he forced an Andromedon back from concentrate fire. "Also say that we'd appreciate an air strike here at some point."

"I wouldn't expect that anytime soon," Shun growled as she tossed a grenade towards a pair of Mutons. "They seem pretty well occupied."

As she said that, a UFO shot overhead, pursued by two ADVENT fighters. Another one in the distance was shot down by a UFO and crashed into an abandoned building. Oliver had to agree that the ADVENT Air Force likely had more pressing concerns, and with two psions, they could probably control the situation.

Then again, the last time they'd also had two psions and he remembered how that had gone.

A roar in the distance indicated the Berserkers were charging. "I'm going to freeze them when they get into position," Matthew yelled, crossing his arms to likely help his focus his power. "Don't waste the shot!"

"Incoming," Lesedi stated calmly. "Probably ten seconds."

Creed raised a hand. "Be ready!"

Oliver immediately focused in on the massive Mutons the moment their silver helmets entered his sights. "Sighted!" The pack of Berserkers roared at the sight of the taunting psion in the wasteland, and began charging.

"And…stop!" Matthew yelled, extending his hands and the foremost Berserkers suddenly froze, faint psionic energy binding them. The ones behind them slammed into the trapped brutes, and Creed lowered his arm.

"Fire!"

At least a few dozen rockets, and another barrage from Gloria was rained down upon the trapped horde. That was not counting the hundreds of gauss rounds and laser pulse streams added to the slaughter. The entire small area was annihilated with multiple orange and fiery explosions, and when the smoke and shrapnel cleared, all the Mutons were clearly dead.

Shun whooped and Matthew lowered his arms, seemingly exhausted from the display. The ADVENT soldiers also cheered, although it was cut short by Lesedi. "Elites incoming. Matthew, you should probably get back and rest some. You can't keep that up forever."

"Fine, a short break," he relented and began to slowly retreat when he was suddenly yanked backwards, a seeker materializing around him.

"Fucking machine!" He growled, squeezing a fist and the head of the Seeker crumpled, and fell off of him.

"Ah!" Shun and Allison shouted simultaneously as Seekers materialized behind them, and then around multiple Officers.

"Duck!" Creed yelled at him, and he threw himself to the ground and Creed shot right above him, and another Seeker wreck fell to the ground. The rest of them were trying to quickly shoot the ones holding Shun and Allison. The one behind Allison suddenly crumpled from a telekinetic grab as Matthew came stumbling back.

Nio shot the one above Shun and it collapsed to the ground after about a few seconds of sustained fire. She fell to her knees and tore off her helmet and immediately began vomiting up whatever that black poison was that the Seekers used. Allison fortunately seemed to not have been affected, likely protected by her psionics.

"There's two of the things on me!" Lesedi yelled frantically from the roof of the building, obviously choking. "I can't-"

She gurgled and cut off. "We need to help her!" Oliver demanded, looking up frantically where she was, even knowing that there was no way they could get up there in time.

"We need to help the living!" Matthew yelled back, as there were still multiple Officers being strangled by the Seekers, all up and down the line. The good news was that they were so isolated from the main force that they were killed before too many Officers choked to death, but the bad was that during that time, the aliens had taken full advantage of the confusion and moved forward.

As the last Seeker was destroyed, Oliver turned to see a line of towering Muton Elites in the distance, their plasma cannons firing massive bolts of plasma in their direction, and quickly advancing, more Mutons behind them, and in the distance were the roars of more Berserkers.

Swallowing, Oliver reloaded and prepared to face down the oncoming Muton horde.

Everything had gone wrong very fast.

And he knew it was likely going to get worse.

---

Las Vegas, United States of America

The Battlemaster was sufficiently pleased with XCOM's attempts at fighting him.

By themselves they were woefully inadequate, but together they were managing to force him to pay attention, even if they had yet to land a significant blow. They were an adequate challenge, which was admittedly more than he had expected given that this had to have been a recent development.

These particular XCOM soldiers would likely be rather devastating on his own army, but not even remotely close to the skill of a Battlemaster. He was pleasantly surprised with their weapon choices as well, it showed they had at least put some thought into how to realistically take him down, even if in practice it didn't work nearly as well.

The one with the mace, Iosif, who he recalled from the intelligence gathered, was clearly the smartest one. He knew his limits and only played to his strengths and successfully demanded attention, and was skilled enough to deflect his strikes instead of meeting them head-on. The rare times the Battlemaster scored a direct hit, it had been blocked or negated with psionic shields.

He was decent, but not a particularly good duelist and didn't have the appropriate speed to respond to his faster ripostes.

The telekinetic soldier was utterly useless, and outside of the gimmick of her electrified swords, posed no threat to him that he had seen. The trick had initially been welcome, but she hadn't figured out the current needed to be sustained if it was to have any effect. Simply throwing her weapons at him would do next to nothing as they couldn't pierce his armor.

So it amused him to continually return her weapons, knowing that she would only get more frustrated. She also had refrained from directly using her telekinesis directly on him, perhaps out of fear of provoking him to do the same. Commendable, since he would feel obligated to respond in kind, even if it was as weak as the rest of her fighting style.

The other one had been a mild surprise, and highly amusing. Carmelita was nothing more than a rage-driven berserker with a shotgun and ridiculous melee weapon. It could clearly hit fairly hard, but she was so predictable it was almost tiring. She was one of those fighters that only relied on strength and invincibility over strategy, and thus fell into traps and make mistakes rational fighters didn't make.

She was tough though, he could respect that.

He felt one of them behind him and kicked out and hit air. He transitioned into a spin-slash downwards and barely missed Carmelita, who had dodged out the way, firing her ineffective alloy cannon as she retreated. The telekinetic woman had apparently decided she was tired trying ineffective strategies and had both her weapons in her hand, now glowing a bright orange.

Well, this should be interesting.

He swung towards Iosif who was too slow to get out of the way, but a psionic shield before his raised forearm stopped the blade in its tracks, although it was clearly draining. The telekinetic jumped forward, trying to slash at his leg. Because he was curious what would happen, he let her, though positioned his hand above her as her blades connected.

To his surprise, they sizzled on the armor on his thigh, and he actually noted they had left visible marks.

A problem then.

He reached down, grabbed the woman by her helmet and threw her into a nearby wall and immediately turned to deflect a blow from Iosif. With a free hand, he telekinetically grabbed the swords from the woman's hand and threw them far behind the alien line. With any luck he would find them later and learn how exactly they were strong enough to even scratch his armor.

He felt Carmelita behind him and stuck out his arm, nailing her in the chest and sending her falling to the ground. He was rather tired of her now, so he spun around and angled his blade to stab into her body, and aimed right for her throat, it suddenly was halted a foot from Carmelita, and a yell of anger caught his attention and he turned to see the telekinetic with her hands extended to him, or rather, his sword.

Carmelita scrambled away and he turned to face the now-furious psion, the energy rippling off her. "You're fast," he said, inclining his head. "But I intended to kill her. Someone else must die in her place."

He charged toward the ADVENT line, appeared in front of one of the XCOM soldiers, one he had no name for. All of them shouted and stumbled back, and he telekinetically grabbed one of the XCOM soldiers and forced him onto the blade, which stuck through his neck. The blade went through the gap smoothly, and with the body still on it, he slammed the point onto the ground, pinning the XCOM soldier to the ground.

The Battlemaster smoothly drew the blade from his neck and charged back towards the melee only to be stopped in his tracks by the telekinetic psion. He felt the energy covering his entire body, the bonds preventing it from moving. Or at least, trying to. It was no stasis field which was both easier to maintain and actually froze a target in place.

But it was enough for Iosif finally score a hit directly on his knee. The metal was slightly dented as a result, but it would take at least a dozen volleys before it did any possible damage. He contemplated letting her exhaust herself on this false imprisonment, but seeing as though Carmelita was also taking advantage and striking on the opposite knee, he figured it was best not to take chances.

He focused on the point where the telekinetic was, and squeezed. The effect was immediate and she fell to the ground, gasping as he cut off her air supply and circulation throughout her body. The instant he was free, he released her and slashed towards Iosif, scoring an actual hit and sending him flying backwards, a large gash in his armor.

He transitioned to a slash against Carmelita, but she had wisely gotten out of his way, and had returned to firing her alloy cannon at him. He heard a clicking sound and looked down to see a small canister at his feet which didn't explode but released a white gas into the air. Curious-Ah, he knew what it was.

He charged out of the way just in time as a laser from the XCOM line shot towards the gas and hit it. The instant the laser hit, the cloud turned into an inferno and burned out a second later. He glanced towards the XCOM line where one of the soldiers was probably preparing another one. Clever. Although it likely wouldn't have hurt him even if he'd been in the center of the inferno.

His legs were suddenly rooted to the ground and he saw the telekinetic woman yet again trying to pin him, several more grenades floating above another hand. She thrust it forward and he raised a hand to 'catch' them-

And they exploded, but not in shrapnel or fire. But black sticky fluid coated his arm and managed to reach his helmet. The black goo coated his eyepieces, unfortunately rendering him effectively blind.

That was new. He knew what it was. XCOM had dubbed them 'symbiote grenades'. Used for incapacitation and a rather ingenious application of the green sap the Sectoids used in constructing the Civilian Pacifiers. Charging was risky since he couldn't see, but he could still feel the Humans around him, and he charged approximately halfway towards where the ADVENT line was and briefly assessed the damage.

His one hand was completely covered in the black substance and he couldn't move it at all. It was rubbery, and not completely unpleasant. But certainly immobilizing. He still had three other arms, but the front of his helmet was covered by the substance. He felt the soldiers converging on him again, and he quickly tested peeling the substance away, but to no avail. Perhaps if he had time.

But right now, he did not.

He smiled. Fighting blind was something he had not done in decades. All Battlemasters trained at one time or another, but it was seen as unnecessary and impractical. It was more for sport than a serious tactic.

But this was sport, was it not?

But the telekinetic woman had earned her death. He had considered capturing her for Revelean, but she had turned this into an interesting fight. She deserved a warrior's death, not whatever the geneticist had planned. After all, there was still another psion he could capture.

He closed his eyes, reverting to his habits and focusing on his senses. He tuned the sounds of the still-raging battle around him out, and only focused on the three presences. One focused and determined – Iosif, likely. One victory and triumph – likely the telekinetic. One rage and hate – Carmelita.

In his mind he visualized the battlefield, with the XCOM soldiers as ghostly purple apparitions, and put their presences to the apparitions, and the sounds around them. Swishes of air and grunts of exertion. All allowing milliseconds of time to react.

But he was a Battlemaster. There was no question of if he could do it.

And so he charged forward toward the apparition of Iosif who moved back and the Battlemaster felt his blade meet nothing, which was a psionic shield. He felt Carmelita behind him, and spun to catch her, his fingers outstretched to catch where he presumed her position was, and was rewarded with grabbing her by the arm, and he threw her towards Iosif who probably caught her, he couldn't exactly say.

He then charged toward the telekinetic, fully intending to kill her, but in a more respectable way. He slashed towards where her legs would probably be, he felt her rise slightly – jumping – and quickly transitioned to an overhead chop with blinding speed. A scream that echoed with psionic distortion sounded, and he realized that his blade was actually stuck in her body.

He heard her yell in pain, and the Battlemaster used the noise to pinpoint her exact location as he pried the blade from her body. The so-called Iron Skin modification. Strong, but not strong enough to resist his weapon. Focusing on her sounds of pain, he gripped his sword with two hands and swung towards where her head would be.

He felt resistance, but it was a clean cut.

The sounds stopped.

Her presence vanished.

He turned to the other two psions, their presences now tinged with panic and fear. They had indeed fought as well as could be expected. Perhaps he would kill them all anyway. It wasn't as though he was never going to get another chance.

With the firefight still raging around him, the Battlemaster raised his sword in a final salute to them. The dance was coming to a close, and he was curious to see if there were any other tricks they had.

Then again…

He glanced toward where the other humans were, feeling their fear and terror at the sight of a blinded alien still handily beating their best soldiers.

Perhaps he should make a short diversion. Kill the rest of the XCOM soldiers first. Then the psions.

He gripped his weapon, smiled, and charged the line of Humans.

---

Paris, France

"Down!" Jamali yelled as the eye of the alien machine glowed brightly and a massive beam shot out of it, luckily missing all of them and slamming into a building behind them, leaving the wall cracked. The Outsiders were taking cover, as a good portion of the squad had Pulse weapons, the bane of the crystalline aliens.

Chan raised his hand, and shot purple energy towards the machine which whirred and floated behind the Outsiders, who began firing on the Templar. "Fakhr, can you blow them up?" Patricia demanded, as she began firing at one of the Outsiders shooting behind a concrete column.

"Give me a moment!" She yelled back as she pulled the rocket launcher from her shoulder and began loading the rocket inside. Jamali noticed the floating ball was moving back their way, the eye glowing again.

"It's firing again!" Liliyane called while she ducked and the orange lance shot where her position had been. She responded by shooting her Pulse rifle at the floating ball, and scored a hit on the hull. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be having much of an effect, only seeming to scorch the armor.

Patricia managed to shatter one of the Outsiders into orange shards as he attempted rushing to a closer position. Iida and Catherine were pinning another one down, and Jamali, Blade and Chan were focusing on the other two. They were getting shots of their own off, and many of them were frighteningly close.

"Rocket ready!" Fakhr announced. "Target?"

"Shoot the machine!" Patricia called, seeming to improvise, as it just was floating there, and the eye was glowing a brighter orange as it probably was preparing to fire again. "Chan! Close range! Everyone else cover!"

"Copy!" They all shouted and Chan grasped his Zweihander and began charging one of the Outsiders while Jamali and the rest of them laid down dozens of gauss shots and laser bursts on the remaining Outsiders. Fakhr shot the rocket towards the ball and it just managed to float out of the way, but not before the rocket hit close by, and the shrapnel and fire actually seemed to penetrate it.

"Ah!" Patricia groaned, pausing her fire as she shook her head, perhaps in response to the pain of the floating ball? Was it actually alive then?

Chan was upon one of the Outsiders and slashed down at the alien. It raised a crystalline arm to block it, and did so, though the blade cut deep as it burned with purple energy. With the blade stuck midway down the arm, Chan took one of his hands off the grip to place a hand flaming with more purple fire onto the Outsider, and within seconds of his hand touching the alien, it was slowly engulfed in psionic energy and disintegrated as all Outsiders did in death.

Iida and Blade took the opportunity to charge forward to both flank the remaining Outsiders, and the floating alien. Fakhr was loading another rocket into her launcher, and Liliyane suddenly cried out as a plasma bolt from one of the Outsiders hit her directly in the shoulder, forcing her back down into cover.

At the same time, the floating alien suddenly began changing. Jamali watched in fascinated horror as the panels around the upper half of the eye suddenly retracted revealing a sickening…thing housed within. Literal tentacles wreathed in psionic energy emerged from the shell, four of them, all attached to a rolling and shifting mass that emitted the same purple aura.

The ball of flesh in the cell was utterly and completely unnatural, even by Jamali's ever-changing standards. It wasn't static, but was rolling and inverting, twisting into vaguely spherical shapes. He couldn't tell if the flesh was naturally pink, or if it was simply an illusion from the psionic energy distorting it.

"What the fuck?!" Blake spat as he began focusing on the tentacle alien.

"New target!" Patricia shouted, focusing her weapon on the monstrosity. "Scatter!"

The thing began manipulating it's tentacles around the air, and a purple sphere began converging in the center. It thrust it forward, sending the ball in their direction. Jamali leapt out of the way, and managed to get out of the small blast radius where it hit. But he saw the effects. The bodies caught in the blast suddenly turned black and disintegrated within seconds, and even Liliyane and Catherine who were on the edge of the radius had entire chunks of their armor just disintegrated off, and their entire suit was black and scorched.

"Damn that hurts!" Catherine cursed, as she frantically pulled out her med-kit. "Lily! Get over here!"

"Preparing rocket!" Fakhr yelled, aiming at the tentacle alien. "Firing!"

Her rocket sped towards the creature, but it simply shifted to the side and the rocket crashed nearby, managing to hit one of the Outsiders, but nothing close to where the rocket was intended. Jamali risked standing, taking a few precious seconds to aim at the mass of flesh, and fired.

The burning red lance was true and hit the rolling flesh dead center, and it swiftly turned to him. After three seconds of sustained fire, he ceased and looked at the damage he had caused. Only he saw that the effect had been almost nothing. The charred flesh and even the hole he had burned were already healing and within a few seconds, it was almost as though there had never been a wound at all.

It suddenly floated forward with surprising speed, and stopped right in front of Iida who began stumbling back in surprise, firing her weapon at the tentacled monstrosity in front of her. The thing lashed out with one of its tentacles, wrapping it around her leg, and another wrapped it around her arm and hoisted her up into the air.

"Shoot it now!" Jamali called frantically, but the alien was healing too fast for their shots to be of any use. Iida screamed as she was thrown into the rolling mass of flesh by the tentacles. Jamali could only watch in horror as the flesh enveloped her body, slowly consuming her and presumably dissolving her body within.

The tentacles suddenly withdrew into the shell, and the coverings slid over the flesh-brain, completely protecting it from harm. "Readying rocket," Fakhr called. "Last one."

The lone bit of good news he could see was that Chan had killed the last Outsider and was moving towards the alien…thing. The eye of the alien began heating up, but Chan struck it from behind, scoring what seemed to be a deep hit. It spun around, and seeing it was facing an enemy at close range, retracted it's armor and the tentacles emerged again.

But Chan fortunately seemed to know what he was doing. When one tentacle lashed around his leg, he sliced down and the alien recoiled as he sliced the tentacle clean off. He severed another one with an uppercut. Yet even that didn't seem to only be a temporary solution, as the alien was simply sticking the tentacle stump back into the mass of flesh, and it was emerging with a completely new tentacle.

Chan couldn't keep it up forever, but he seemed to be wanting it to end. With that enemy the only one remaining, the surviving XCOM soldiers were circling around it, trying to shoot the mass of flesh encased within the shell, hoping that massive damage to it might manage to kill it. But at this point Jamali suspected that the only thing that would kill it is if the entire flesh-brain was destroyed at once.

Chan suddenly adjusted something on his sword, and the blade suddenly turned a white-hot orange, glowing bright as psionic flames wreathed around it. Grasping it with both hands, he plunged it directly into the eye of the alien horror, pushing it deeper and deeper, slowly as the creature seemed to go into some kind of shock, vibrating and flinging its tentacles in the air.

Patricia also shuddered and fell to one knee, clearly affected by whatever psionic thing that was being sent out by the alien. Chan shouted as well, but continued to push the sword further in until it was up to the hilt. "Firing!" Fakhr shouted, and the rocket sped towards the alien mass and hit the back of the shell.

The explosion of purple and orange threw Chan backwards and the shell suddenly fell to the ground. Jamali quickly assessed the damage as soon as the fumes cleared. All that remained in the shell was some purple goop and bits of flesh, though who's it was he couldn't tell. The entire front of Chan's armor had been torn to shreds, and his helmet had open gashes, yet he stood. Shaky, but alive.

"What the actual fuck was that?" He sputtered, exhaustion tinging his voice, as he slumped.

"You sit the hell down," Catherine demanded as she pulled out her med-kit. "We'll deal with that later. You're exhausted and you're not killing yourself today."

"Fine, doc," he sighed, collapsing to the ground. "Lost my sword the first battle. Was hoping it would last a little longer."

"I'd say it was a fair sacrifice," Patricia commented, walking up. "That thing pretty much negated my telepathy. I don't know how that…thing…did it, but I really hope there aren't that many more of those things." She motioned toward the UFO. "We've still got a mission here. Come on, let's go secure the Gateway. But I think the hard part is done. I don't sense anything more inside."

Jamali sincerely hoped that was true.

He never wanted to experience anything like that again.

---

Seattle, United States of America

"I'm hit!" Jose yelled as a large bolt of plasma hit him square in the chest, the brunt of it luckily absorbed, but leaving a small black crater in its wake, a danger that was becoming more and more prominent as the Elites continued pouring through the hole in the barrier and taking positions behind the rubble.

Oliver had heard the stories about how just six Elites and an Ethereal had nearly destroyed New York and fighting them now, he could easily see why. The hulking red-armored aliens with their ornate triangular masks would just. Not. Die.

He saw them shrug off missile attacks from Jose and Nio, if they even did cause any damage. But their skin beneath the armor seemed incredibly tough, and he was pretty sure they had been genetically modified to be able to heal wounds extremely quickly. The massive plasma cannons they wielded were powerful enough to kill any soldier in a few shots, and to make matters worse, they were beginning to be interspersed with ordinary Muton soldiers.

The smaller Mutons fortunately died much easier, although they were on the whole remarkably tough. But the problem was that they were in danger of losing the line, and as more Elites poured through, they were beginning to advance forward, and not even the two psions would be enough to turn the tide.

The air battle above had turned into essentially a victory for the aliens, as the UFOs now far outnumbered the ADVENT aircraft still in operation. Andromedon soldiers were also beginning to come through the gap, and were tactically disabling certain parts of the shield to allow their forces to advance. Normally that would be a bloodbath, but with the Elites leading the charge, it was giving them a fighting chance.

"Firing barrage," Gloria informed, and raised the arms of her MEC and fired a trio of missiles directly at one of the Elites, all of which impacted on the upper chest and helmet. Large gaps of the armor fell off and Oliver and Shun fired at the openings, and the combined power managed to bring the behemoth to the ground with a thud.

One down, thirty to go?

It wasn't the first Elite that had died, but they were few and far between. A roar from the back of the alien line sounded, and Oliver felt his heart drop even further. The Berserkers were back, and this time there wasn't a coordinated missile strike to stop them. "Berserkers incoming!" Creed echoed, as he killed several more Muton soldiers.

Oliver quickly scanned the battlefield, trying to see how much they could realistically hold. The alien forces were roughly two-thirds through the rubble graveyard, and even though ADVENT was continuously rushing their forces to the defense, it was becoming overwhelming even for them. Soldiers died, were pulled away, and replaced, but now they were falling behind, and dozens of corpses now littered the area around him, along with the smell of ozone and burnt flesh.

If things didn't improve soon, they would have to pull back.

Allison was selectively using her psionic shields, creating smaller and personal ones around wounded soldiers, those actually firing and also directly in front to alien weapons to temporarily negate the threat. The woman was distorted through her purple veil, but he could tell she was beginning to tire from the constant usage of her powers with no break.

Matthew was similarly weakened, and used his abilities with no wasted breath or finesse. Squeezed fists resulted in Muton heads imploding, and Elite armor crumpling. He alone had been responsible for the deaths of three Elites so far, and the rest of his energy was spent reshaping the battlefield, removing the cover the aliens hid behind, and throwing the concrete at more aliens, or against their barrier.

The Berserkers leapt forward as Oliver executed yet another Muton soldier, and immediately charged forward, wrist blades at the ready. They fortunately weren't as armored as the Elites, or as large, but that was a small comfort since they still towered over all of the soldiers. "Target the Berserkers!" Creed yelled, and the hail of laser and gauss fire turned to the charging aliens.

Two immediately succumbed to the combined fire, and Matthew yelled as psionic energy convulsed around him, and two of the Berserkers were lifted into the air, and their armor visibly crushed as he threw them into the aliens at the back. Several Berserkers slammed directly into, or tripped over small psionic barriers manifested by Allison.

One was blown apart by rockets, but several managed to leap over the line, and immediately began wreaking havoc on the ill-prepared soldiers. Two ADVENT soldiers were thrown back by one punch from a Berserker, and Nio yelled as another one grabbed him and began beating him into the ground. Oliver frantically fired at the head of the beast, and managed to pierce it after a few volleys and lucky shots.

The Berserker collapsed to the ground, Nio still in its hand, limbs at contorted and unnatural angles and lying still. He was clearly dead. Another Berserker roared as its arms were literally ripped off by Matthew's telekinesis, and the psion seemed to be growing surprisingly more powerful as things got worse. Creed, Shun, and the combined fire of ADVENT managed to take down the remaining Berserker, but during that entire time, the situation had worsened.

The Elites were almost upon them, and the Cyberdisks had nearly surrounded them as they had been focused on the Berserkers. They had been saved for just that moment, it seemed, when the majority of their tools were spent. Creed noticed too, and knew what had to be done. "Retreat! Allison, shield!"

"On it!" She responded, and raised her hands, the largest psionic shield he had seen from her yet appeared above them, blocking the Cyberdisk fire. The Officers were also yelling to their soldiers to fall back, and into their wrists as they communicated orders from their superiors. Matthew roared, and clenched a fist and six Cyberdisks promptly collapsed into wrecks, the entirety of the force that had been flanking them from above.

And he promptly collapsed.

"Grab him!" Creed ordered Oliver, and Allison readjusted her shield to face the Elites and Muton soldiers. "Lightning Sky, we need an evac now!"

"On approach," was the response. "Stand by."

Oliver hauled Matthew over his shoulder, grunting at the weight. It seemed that Matthew had not been getting stronger, but had simply expended everything he had left. Luckily, it seemed that might save them since they now didn't have to worry about getting shot from above. The Mutons were now past the line, and one of the Officers waved back some of the still-retreating soldiers. "Stand clear!"

Oliver realized he was holding a detonator, and once his thumb hit the trigger, the first two buildings near the ADVENT line shuddered and suddenly collapsed from planted explosives inside. The rubble fell onto the Mutons, burying them if not killing them outright. "That'll buy us some time," the Officer said grimly. "But I don't think we can hold the city."

"Not in this condition," Creed nodded, as the skyranger swooped down. "We've lost too many people now."

Having now participated in two losing battles, Oliver was not exactly feeling elated as he saw the skyranger land. The aliens seemed unstoppable when they put thought into it, and as shown, overwhelming numbers would kill the defenses even if the aliens weren't as smart.

He could only hope the other battles were going somewhat better.

Although with the Battlemaster in one of them, he had a sinking feeling that wasn't the case.

---

Las Vegas, United States of America

Nuan would have been awestruck that the reports and even footage of the Battlemaster in combat was somehow understating what it was actually like to physically be around him.

If she hadn't been completely terrified.

She had felt a faint glimmer of hope after Karen had blinded him with the symbiote grenades, but that had been quickly dispelled when he had proceeded to continue fighting blind. His subsequent execution of Karen had been excruciating to watch, and Nuan really felt the screaming urge to throw down her weapon and run.

But she didn't.

She couldn't leave everyone else to die to this thing.

Even as it butchered everyone around her.

Despite how it seemed on the surface to not be effecting him, Nuan somehow noted that the Battlemaster was hindered by his blindness. His strikes were broader, not as precise. He amputated limbs off of soldiers when she could tell he had been going for kills. Right now he was hacking the soldiers around him into pieces, all grace and precision gone in favor of death.

Iosif and Carmelita were coming back to assist, but the Battlemaster had already killed half of the ADVENT forces around her. Aya was stumbling back, firing her pulse rifle as she tried to get out of the range of his swings, but she was suddenly picked up telekinetically, and a swing by the Battlemaster decapitated her without a sound.

Carmelita tried once more firing several rounds from her alloy cannon, which Nuan knew had to be running low on ammo, but to the exact same fucking effect. Nuan felt an unreasonable anger at Carmelita's so-called 'tactics'. It clearly wasn't working. Yet the idiot woman kept doing it over and over again expecting different results.

Idiot!

Iosif was trying to attract the Battlemaster's attention again, actually using his brain, by attacking the flank of the towering alien. A low rumble emanated from the alien as he gestured and both Carmelita and Iosif were sent flying back, although Iosif managed to anchor himself to the ground after being pushed a few meters back.

The Battlemaster was now looking towards her side of the street, she swallowed and he suddenly performed his fake teleportation trick and appeared right beside her. She bit her tongue to keep from screaming as he slashed the soldiers around him, men and woman crying out in pain around her.

She stumbled back and tossed one of her flame primer grenades at his armored feet, refraining from firing until she was well out of range. And then the Battlemaster looked at her, the helmet encased in the black substance only adding to his terrifying visage. A second later the sword was coming towards her and she leapt to the side and felt the blade whistle horrifyingly past her face and she fell onto her back, thinking how lucky she was that she hadn't been hit.

Until the pain hit her and she realized that he had hit her. Her arms felt as though they were on fire, and she tried to push herself up to get away, when the extent of her injuries became apparent.

She had no arms.

Panic enveloped her as her vision swam as the pain strangely dulled at the realization that two of his limbs didn't exist anymore. She could feel the blood running out of the stumps, her life literally draining away as the sounds of the world faded to a mix of screams, gauss blasts and explosions.

She didn't want to die like this, but she was too weak to fight anymore, too weak to even do more than look around. The sky was irritatingly bright blue and cheerful, almost as if there was no war going on.

Nuan wished with what she presumed was her final moments that the rest of them would leave now. Iosif, Cassandra, that other sniper, even that idiot Carmelita. They couldn't win. Not against that thing.

Her vision flickered, and she noted with some dull interest that she felt herself behind lifted up by the shoulders and dragged…somewhere. Voices above her talked, but she couldn't understand them. Were they even friends? Something was sprayed onto the stumps of her arms, blessedly hot and cold at the same time.

What an idiotic last thought to have.

And Nuan finally fell unconscious.

---

Supplementary Material

The Advent Directive

SECTION 8: ADVENT Military

Subsection 8.3: Soldier Qualifications

Overview: The ADVENT Military expects the best from its soldiers and that extends from the newly enlisted to the ranking officers themselves. There are standards that ADVENT will adhere to, thus ensuring that those enlisting are of the highest caliber to face the multiple challenges ADVENT will face from a military and diplomatic perspective.

The ADVENT Military must be more than a sword of the Executive Branch, only used as a blunt tool to destroy or negate opposition, but as a scalpel with the knowledge that a military response is not the only one, and exercise restraint when utilizing the ADVENT Military. However, when the time to deploy comes, each ADVENT soldier must follow their orders completely, and execute their enemies without mercy.

There can be no compromise against the enemies of ADVENT, except complete and utter surrender of the enemy. Those serving must be prepared to perform these acts and understand what joining ADVENT truly entails.

There are two points of entry: Enlisted and Officer, both with the potential for promotion.

The ADVENT Military does not discriminate based on age or gender. All positions are open to male and female soldiers, provided that they meet the minimum requirements.

Educational Requirements:

Enlisted: High School Degree – Lower education levels not accepted.

Officer: 4-Year College Degree Minimum – Lower education levels not accepted

Physical Requirements:

For both Officer and Enlisted: Must pass a physical fitness test which consists of the following:

- Pull-Ups: Minimum Requirement: 10

- Crunches: Minimum Requirement: 75

- 3-Mile Run: Minimum Requirement: 28:00 Minutes

Must not be missing one or more limbs, or have approved prosthetic replacements

Must not be suffering from any terminal or debilitating disease or illness.

Personal Requirements:

Minimum Age: 18 (17 with parental permission)

Must have a clean criminal record (Only exceptions can be made for misdemeanors)

Must not be affiliated with any known political or religious extremist groups (List is publically available)

Must be a legal citizen of ADVENT. Illegal applicants will be arrested and prosecuted.

Psychological Requirements:

Must not have a documented record of deception, bullying, or disruptive behavior.

Must not be under any medication that severely alters mental conditions.

Must not be suffering from one or more mental illnesses or social impairments.

Must participate in a Standard Psychological Examination (SPM) to establish psychological state:

- Those with pacifistic tendencies, or inclinations towards non-violent behavior in the face of danger will be dismissed. Alternate employment within various ADVENT agencies may be recommended instead.

- Those with sociopathic, psychopathic, or similar inclinations towards the taking of life to the extent that they pose a threat to combat and military security will be dismissed. Profiles fitting this description will be forwarded to ADVENT Intelligence or XCOM for possible recruitment.

- Those who do not fall into either extreme will pass, though some may require monitoring for a period of 1 to 5 years.

---

A/N: So, it's that time of year again where the college semester is starting. Like usual I'll post my standard disclaimer that college comes first and will take priority over writing. That being said, historically, there hasn't been a major change in updates, but if there is, that is the reason. What is going to stop writing briefly is the XCOM 2 expansion dropping next week. That'll be where my free time is spent until I beat it. I'm hoping to get another chapter in the pipeline before then, so you should hopefully not experience a drastic delay. No promises though, it's going to be an (obviously) big one.

And another thank you to everyone reading and/or giving feedback. This would not be nearly as good without you.

- Xabiar