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.

18. Annexation: Canada

Annexation: Canada

---

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

Patricia didn't recognize where she was. She appeared to be in some circular hallway, with the windows outside showing red sand. Dust blew in gusts, and that was enough for her to become lucid enough to realize that she was dreaming. Immediately, she extended her psionic senses and…

She froze.

The Imperator.

It was unmistakable. There was no other Ethereal that had the same sheer aura of power, even within this mental construct. Caelior, and even Aegis were shadows compared to him, and he knew she was aware, and that she was afraid. She knew that he would likely be able to take over her mind, and there might not be much she could do.

But he seemed content to just let her come to him. She could sense where he was easily enough, and even though she didn't know the layout of this place, it probably wouldn't take her long. So she started walking, realizing she was in her armor, minus the helmet and autorifle. She pursed her lips, concentrated, and willed the familiar weapon into her hands.

For whatever good it would do.

She kept walking through the empty station, wondering where she actually was. The detail was too rich to merely be a construct. There were always signs of a purely mental creation, which meant that the Imperator was…well, even more powerful than she anticipated, or that this was drawn from a memory of this place.

She kept looking out the windows, and was fairly sure she wasn't on Earth. Mars? Mercury? Her astrology really wasn't the best, but she was pretty sure there weren't any buildings on those planets, and at least some of them were completely uninhabitable. Then again, Mars was where they were pretty certain the main alien command was, so it would make sense that they had built some stations on the planet itself.

Patricia reached a door, with a green holographic circular lock in the center, which dissipated as she approached, and slid into the walls silently, and she continued. As she kept going, the walls becoming more exposed and revealed their internal workings, she became aware of a low hum in the back of her head. It reminded her of the UFOs, but this wasn't nearly as pervasive. It was more like a machine running; not something that was jammed into your skull.

A few more winding hallways, and she suddenly found herself in what seemed to be some kind of…control center? There were computer stations that had no noticeable similarities to Human tech…or…she frowned. It even seemed different to Ethereal tech. There weren't any kind of screens or interfaces, but they were definitely meant to be interacted with.

In the center was what they were all connected to. In the center was some kind of rectangular device, green lit lines running along it, shielded by a similarly colored stasis field. It was utterly unlike anything she'd seen, and still seemed to be…online. Assuming that it actually worked like that, and wasn't just a shiny monument.

"A repository," the rumbling voice of the Imperator stated out of nowhere, stepping beside her. "We were not the first to find your species."

Patricia looked over, and saw that he'd assumed the form of…Patricia frowned. The name didn't come to the front of her mind right away, but she had seen him before. Ah, right. He was that old guy that always accompanied Saudia. Why the Imperator was assuming his form of all things was interesting, but at least it wasn't her father again.

"Where are we?" She asked finally.

"Mars," he answered. "Specifically, the ruins on the planet. The Collective Observation station is in orbit, but there have been a few teams sent down here. A fascinating place it is, despite what happened."

Patricia sighed. "And I'm sure you'll enlighten me?"

The Imperator stepped forward, a smile on his face as he looked at the strange artifact before them. "Honestly, I can only speculate. All that is certain is that at one point, they were here, and then seemingly vanished. The technology is even different from our own, and this is not the first time we have encountered it."

Patricia raised an eyebrow. "How perceptive. I could have guessed that."

"You are missing the point, psion," the Imperator chided. "Does that not remind you of something? Or has Aegis been remiss in teaching you our history? The very reason we still exist?"

Ah, she got it now. "You really think this alien species was killed by the Synthesized?"

"Or something equally as dangerous," the Imperator nodded approvingly. "There are only two forces that could simply wipe out a powerful galactic civilization, and time does not seem to be something that hinders them. Perhaps it is the Synthesized, perhaps not. The point is that it is unlikely that they have suffered the same fate. One day they will return."

Patricia wondered at that. "But you don't know."

The Imperator smiled, an expression that looked alien on his Human avatar. "No. Not for sure. But there is little point assuming without proof."

Patricia crossed her arms. "Is there a point to this? Are you going to do something to me, or just give me a history lesson?"

"Do you really think I care about your species fighting back?" The Imperator asked. "It does not matter what happens. You only have one planet. Do you really think that I have not dealt with upstart species before? You pose no threat to me, psion, and you still seem to believe you have a chance against us. Every advancement you think will be the key to your victory will ultimately mean nothing. The use of dangerous chemicals, nuclear weapons; tricks of technology, those will only prolong the war, and not end it in your favor."

He took a few steps towards her. "You think of us as arrogant, but I find it amusing to think that of all species, yours will single-handedly topple a galactic collective composed of billions of soldiers and spacecraft. Perspective is needed, psion. At the moment your greatest enemy is us, but who will it be next should you miraculously manage to win?"

Patricia shrugged. "Aegis has mentioned other alien species in the inner galaxy. Depending on how hostile they are-"

"Incorrect," The Imperator stated flatly. "They are all puppets, controlled by those who are far more powerful and manipulative than they could ever hope to be. I am surprised your own species was ignored before we found you, though since we were directed here, I do wonder just what their plan was…" he trailed off contemplatively. "Win or lose, psion Trask, you will need to recognize who the true threats are, and they are not mere alien species, but beings much older and dangerous. Ones powerful enough to bring our Empire to the ground, or wage proxy wars using entire species over countless cycles. In the grand scheme of things, we are, to provide a Human analogy, a sand castle against a raging flood. But I believe that can be changed."

"Who?" Patricia demanded. "The Synthesized?"

"One of them, for certain," the Imperator nodded. "But they may be gone. There are ones who are tangible and real to beware of. There is a reason we have avoided the puppet species so far."

Patricia furrowed her eyebrows. "That isn't an answer."

"I will tell you," the Imperator smiled again. "One day. But all I desire now is for you to think. Understand what you are really fighting for, and fighting against. Aegis does not accept certain realities, but I do not believe you will ignore the evidence once you make the connection. Fight well, Patricia. We will speak again."

He inclined his head, and Patricia woke up.

---

The Praesidium, Patricia's Quarters

She woke up with a short gasp.

A quick glance at the clock told her that she had been sleeping at least five hours, but she was strangely alert with no drowsiness whatsoever. Creed was right beside her, still breathing softly and one arm wrapped over her. She took a breath and took the opportunity to snuggle into him, even though she knew she wasn't going to be getting any more sleep tonight.

One perk of being the Overseer of Psionic Operations was that she got her own room. Not too large, but it was enough for a two-person bed, a couple nightstands, and an armor rack and small armory. And it was all to herself, and anyone she wanted to share it with of course.

Mostly the man she was sleeping beside.

An argument could be made that her life had gone horribly wrong (as had every other Human's on the planet), but this was one area of her life that certainly hadn't. She'd quite honestly thought that any sort of relationship she'd develop would be after her military service, outside of the couple flings with those guys she'd found enjoyable, although that had quickly grown problematic as well. A lesson she'd learned was that relationships based solely on sex never really worked out. So eventually she just decided to focus on what she was good at.

It was a shame they really didn't get any kind of vacation or shore leave, she figured her parents would like him. He really was the kind of guy her father would want her to marry, and while she was not expecting that to be brought up for a long time, it was a possibility she could see happening. One day. But she wasn't convinced it needed to happen for a while yet. It really wouldn't do much aside from making it official, and there were quite a few more pressing matters at the moment.

Like her conversation with the Imperator.

She grew grim at that, and pushed herself tighter against Creed, as if that would do anything. It didn't, but it was a comforting feeling. The Commander and Aegis were going to wonder what he was talking about, and that he still didn't seem interested in…really doing anything. He'd shown up, talked with her, and left.

It was maddening. In a strange way, he reminded her of Quisilia, doing things that made no sense. Why would he tell her this, then just leave? A warning? His own strange way of expressing respect? Just part of his game? Maybe Aegis could answer it, but she wasn't so sure. That, and there was definitely something on Mars…assuming the entire dream wasn't an illusion.

That, however, was probably something Aegis could confirm. If they really had encountered that strange technology before, he'd likely be aware of it. If that was the case, then she did have to wonder at the power of something that could wipe out not just one, but multiple galactic civilizations.

That was when she also realized that she'd forgotten to ask the Imperator another rather important question. He'd said there were two capable of such a fear. If the Synthesized were one…

Then what the hell was the other?

And apparently, this was the larger threat, at least to the Imperator. Had Aegis forgotten to mention the other galactic threat or did he not know either? The Imperator seemed very keen on keeping secrets from those he didn't trust, which then begged the question of why he was telling her this. Not to mention the strange warning about 'knowing who the real threats are'.

Could that be, in a twisted form of a contingency, his way of warning them that even if they won, they would be forced to fight the same enemy in the future?

She frowned in the darkness. There were too many missing pieces. Too much was unknown. There was a lot more going on beyond Earth that they had no comprehension of; that Aegis might not know. The Imperator had said he didn't care, and she believed him; she'd sensed no dishonesty when he'd spoken, although given his power, he was probably one of the few who would be able to lie to her and succeed.

But if he was being truthful, then that was troubling. If an entire species fighting against his Collective, developing psionics, and overall fighting better than they should have, not to mention one of the more powerful Ethereals defecting to their cause…if that wasn't something he cared about, then what was?

Maybe she was making it too complicated. It was entirely possible that the Imperator just didn't respect the threat they posed. He was too focused on the bigger picture; he was used to the scale of galaxies and planet clusters, not cities and continents. Such concerns were likely beneath him, and so he assigned his underlings to handle the rest.

Was their scope too narrow? Were they focusing too much on Earth right now and assigning importance to it that wasn't deserved? At some point, assuming they were still alive…they would need to expand off Earth. There was the Vitakara, the Sectoids, the Andromedon Federation, and the Mutons, all of whom held hundreds of planets, and outnumbered them by a ludicrous amount.

In some way, she had to admit the Imperator was right. Was it really not arrogant to believe that they, who hadn't even mastered spacecraft yet, could manage to bring down a Collective whose sheer size dwarfed their miniscule one planet? True, they had psions, an Ethereal, soldiers, and Nartha who was doing whatever he could to disrupt things in the Collective, but even still…the odds were not in their favor.

They had a few trump cards left. Japan wasn't the end, no one really believed that. But it was going to force them to make decisions on where to use them. Eventually, they wouldn't have any left, and at this stage of the war, could they really afford to use them up too quickly?

She didn't know. That wasn't her call.

But the aliens were going to adapt, and at some point, they would decide to finish it, and unless a miracle happened, they wouldn't be able to solve it.

With those cheery thoughts swirling through her mind, she stared blankly into the darkness, waiting and hoping she might fall back asleep, even if she wasn't sure she'd really rest.

---

The Praesidium, Situation Room

Considering that they were juggling several crises at once, the Commander was not especially amused to hear that Patricia had been telepathically contacted by the Imperator.

Again.

He wasn't sure if he should feel insulted or concerned that this marked the second time the Imperator had contacted her. Considering he was the Commander of XCOM, he would have expected himself or someone high in ADVENT like Saudia might be a target of the Imperator's power. That he'd spoken to Patricia twice meant he'd specifically developed an interest in her.

Well, maybe Ethereals just had their favorites. Aegis had done much the same to him, but he figured it was more due to his position than anything else. Still, that begged the question of why the Imperator was contacting Patricia. From what it sounded like, he'd basically just talked to her (again) and made some vague points (again), and then left, even wishing that she fight well.

And in the process brought up a lot of…interesting…information. What the hell was it with Ethereals and just dropping crucial details like it was nothing? First Aegis, then Quisilia, and now the Imperator. It was like they were trying to make it easy for them sometimes.

That being said, this was not the right time for this kind of information. The Japan situation needed to be dealt with, and the Commander knew that the Canadian annexation was going to be executed soon. This was in addition to some reworks in XCOM strategy and helping prepare the Korean defense.

The good news was that this was hopefully going to prompt Aegis to actually act. Caelior was a clear escalation, and they needed to respond in kind. In the meantime, he was instead going to get grilled on some things he'd forgotten to mention. "This alien technology Patricia described," Vahlen said, eyeing Aegis suspiciously. "What do you know about it?"

If Aegis felt anything regarding the borderline interrogation, he didn't show it in his tone, body language, or emotions. "Very little," he answered, apparently honestly. "Our interest is not in archeology or ancient technology. The ruins and scraps we have recovered have not been examined in-depth, since Revelean and Fectorian determined that they were no more superior than our own. They mostly serve as a reminder to us; a symbol of the threat the Synthesized pose, and that it is more than our species that is at stake."

Patricia rubbed her forehead, sighing. "And you never bothered to try and learn more about it?"

Aegis turned his helmet towards her. "What would the point be, Psion Trask, outside of academia? Time is precious, and while a curious development, the ultimate purpose it serves is likely limited."

The Commander was grateful to see that none of them were particularly satisfied with that explanation. "Likely limited?" Shen noted, disapproval clear in his voice. "Then you don't know for sure."

A pause. "No, I do not know for sure," Aegis admitted. "But I can only assume that if it had some value, either the Imperator or Sovereign Ones would have had us investigate."

"Well, that gives us a goal then," the Commander said. "If the Collective isn't interested in this other technology, maybe we can find something from it. I guess then you wouldn't know why there was one on Mars to begin with?"

Aegis shook his head.

"The Imperator mentioned the device was a repository," Patricia recalled. "So he has some knowledge. Why he told me that, I don't know."

"Question of the hour," the Commander muttered, leaning on the holotable. "I'm curious as to what his ultimate point was. Was it to say to us that 'there are more important threats than me'?"

"Possibly," Aegis said slowly. "Regardless of who wins this conflict, the Synthesized will likely return one day, and they will have to be fought. That will be us, or the Collective. The Imperator, for all his faults, is keenly aware of the threat, though not to the extent I had hoped he would be."

"That's a problem to deal with when we win," the Commander shook his head. "The Synthesized, or any other galactic threat, do not have any bearing on the situation now. As of this point, the Collective poses the largest threat, and they need to be removed. Then we can talk about the Synthesized."

"And these inner galactic species," Jackson spoke up for the first time. "That the Imperator called them 'puppets' is not a good sign." They all looked to Aegis.

"I am only aware they exist," Aegis said, shaking his helmet again. "The Imperator made a very clear point that we were not to go anywhere near them until we were prepared. Based on his words, I wonder what exactly he learned, as he no doubt sent at least Sicarius and Quisilia to the inner galaxy. I know of no species outside us who could turn an entire species into 'puppets'."

There was a short uncomfortable pause.

The Commander furrowed his eyebrows. "Is it possible that there are other surviving Ethereals?"

"No," Aegis stated flatly. "If that were the case, it would have not been hidden, even if the Imperator decided they were hostile. I can say for certain that these aliens are not Ethereals."

"Or there is just as good a chance the Imperator is lying," Zhang pointed out neutrally. "Whatever he said, he is not simply talking to you because he is bored. This was done purely to get into your head, Patricia, and by extension, all of ours." He stepped forward. "It does not matter what is beyond the Collective. It does not matter if these alien ruins are explored or not. The Synthesized are not a threat right now." He nodded towards Aegis. "They are the only ones we should concern ourselves with. The Ethereals are our enemy. Once they are dead, then we can focus on whatever else this galaxy holds."

The Commander nodded his approval. "Well said. Interesting as this is, it is not relevant. We have actual problems to deal with; namely what we're going to do about Japan, not to mention Canada."

There were nods all around the room, although Patricia didn't look quite so satisfied. The Commander knew that the conversation was going to stick with her for some time, and he couldn't really blame her. But they needed to move on, and information from a questionable source wasn't worth dwelling on.

Still, he felt like Aegis knew more than he was letting on. That, however, was a conversation for another time. Preferably when there weren't several other issues that demanded their attention. "Concerning the new information that the Andromedons have a dedicated aquatic team, I think that we need to develop some kind of response…"

---

Lancer Operational Command, United States of America

In Saudia's view, the situation could be worse.

Conversely, the situation could always be worse.

She realized she was staring at the small holotable for no specific reason, distracted by the recent events. Japan was, predictably, not going over well. The media knew for sure they were pulling out of Japan, and predictably, they were using that to indirectly imply that ADVENT was slowly falling apart, as well as questioning her leadership.

There was no mistake about it, they'd lost. Badly. While the decision to pull out completely perhaps sent the wrong message, it was the smartest move. Everyone of any import agreed, and it was by far the easiest decision she'd had to make throughout this. But they'd been outmaneuvered, outplayed, and outsmarted here. Like ADVENT, the aliens had learned from their mistakes.

She pursed her lips. The Ethereal, Caelior, he was by far the biggest problem. Saudia had been skeptical that the Battlemaster could be topped in terms of threat level, but that was before the alien had thrown a US carrier into Tokyo. Still no one knew if the nuclear reactors on the carrier had gone into meltdown or not, and she doubted that the aliens were going to care much one way or the other.

Laura's autopsy of why they lost was a step in the right direction, and if nothing else, the woman was good at adapting quickly. But it would take time to actually implement, and implement well. Right now they had no idea where the aliens would strike next. America, Russia, and Korea were all valid targets, even China, though that was optimistic.

What complicated matters further was trying to reassure people that the situation was handled, when that was questionable at best. None of them had really gotten any sleep the past few days, and there was the upcoming annexation to deal with.

In short, the situation was not good, but manageable.

She could work with that.

"What are the reports from Japan?" Weekes asked Laura as they finally gathered around the holotable. "If we want to begin harassment operations, we shouldn't delay."

"Same as before," Laura answered, shaking her head. "They seem to be establishing bases, and spreading pretty rapidly. We're not sure if they're getting ready to attack again soon or not. We're preparing for the worst."

"Regardless of what they're planning, we need to be proactive," Elizabeth interjected as she paced. "But Japan is a dead end, I think. They will be expecting strikes there. Perhaps now we should being focusing on Australia, wound them where they don't expect it."

"Or we do both," Saudia said tiredly. "I'm certain XCOM would be willing to help. But I believe Japan would be a greater priority. Whatever happens next, it's almost certain they'll be launching an attack from there. We need to know what they're doing and how."

Laura leaned back into a wall, her shoulders slumping. "We need to do something soon. I'm about ready to shoot every TV screen that I see if I hear one more idiot commentator wondering 'what this means for the future of ADVENT'. Maybe I should do an interview, maybe it would calm them down."

Stein sniffed, her tone flat. "No. The Commander of the ADVENT Military has more important things to do than waste time with those packs of vultures. If you must send someone to placate them, I'm willing to speak to them."

"No offense, but I don't think scaring the hell out of them is a valid response," Weekes interrupted. "Besides, you're with the Peacekeepers, not military, sorry. I'm sure we could find some means of placation."

"The Prime Minister?" Elizabeth suggested. "Perhaps the Emperor or one of the Royal Family? They would appear more trustworthy than us to them."

Saudia nodded in approval. "The Prime Minister understands the situation fairly well. I believe he would be best, and it would especially be reassuring to the Japanese refugees to hear it from their leader."

"We have another problem we're going to have to deal with soon," Weekes interjected. "South Korea needs to be evacuated immediately. At best we hold the aliens at the coast, but I don't think one major military installation will be enough to hold them back."

Laura nodded. "Seoul is where the real fight will be. Weekes is right. They need to be evacuated elsewhere."

All of them knew the obvious answer to that. "North Korea," Elizabeth finally said. "Everything comes back full circle. Gwan is going to be thrilled. Not to mention the South Koreans moving north."

Laura tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Be that as it may…this could actually be a positive development. If there is anything that will bring the two nations together, them both helping each other will at least help relations. The symbolism of North Korean and South Korean soldiers fighting beside each other is a powerful image."

"One we should exploit," Elizabeth nodded.

Laura shot her a distasteful look. "Not everything has to be propaganda, Director."

"No," Elizabeth agreed. "But I'll never turn down the opportunity when it arises."

"I'll begin organizing that immediately," Saudia nodded, mentally adding another task to the massive list in her head. "The sooner that's started, the better. Has China made any official response?"

"Not publically," Laura denied. "But we received some official documents from them that revealed they were planning to move their soldiers to reinforce the most vulnerable cities. I suppose that is their way of saying they're preparing for an attack as well. Nothing more than that though."

"A shame," Saudia said, looking down at the holomap. "At some point they have to come to the table. They can't fight this war on their own and they know it."

"I suspect once China is attacked, their tune will change," Weekes shrugged. "Honestly, they are not something we should be concerned about right now. They stay out of our way, we stay out of theirs. We need to get the PRIEST Program up and running stat."

"Don't worry," Laura soothed, her tone artificially controlled. "Initial recruitment is already underway. Everything related to this has been accelerated."

"Speaking of which," Elizabeth interjected. "XCOM just forwarded something…interesting. Several interesting things in fact." She began tapping her tablet, biting her lower lip in concentration. "They sent schematics for some kind of psionic training device, a kind of focus tool of sorts, at least from the description. And an…interesting…amount of information on Caelior."

"When you say interesting…?" Stein prompted.

"I mean interesting," Elizabeth said, puzzled. "His general personality, his noted strengths, weaknesses. Stuff that I don't think they should have. For that matter, there has been a lot of stuff they recently sent that was oddly advanced."

Saudia cast a sidelong glance at Elizabeth. "That isn't surprising, at least not to me. Remember there was at least one alien defector, and they have an entire team of Vitakara they took prisoner. I'm not surprised they're exploiting them. Where else would they get that information from, an Ethereal?"

"I'm not daft," Elizabeth muttered. "But that doesn't match what we've seen, and know about the Ethereals. They are very secretive, even in their own Collective, they don't reveal themselves unless they think it's necessary. How does a random team of scientists and a traitor spy know personal details like this?"

"Does it matter?" Weekes asked.

"Depends," Elizabeth said slowly. "It could mean they know more than they're telling us. Even now."

Laura sighed. "Based on what I know of XCOM, that's always going to always be the case. They only recently decided it would be a good idea for us to have psions. They're always going to have secrets, and frankly, we really don't have a lot of resources to determine how much they really know."

"I agree," Saudia said, adding a dismissive wave. "There is also one final matter to discuss: Canada."

"Oh dear," Laura sighed once more. "I can't be the only one to see that the timing of this is problematic to say the least. It won't exactly help the situation."

"Assuming you care about PR," Stein commented bluntly, her eyes flashing. "Canada has proven to be unreasonable. We don't have time to put up with their childish antics and they are denying us support purely on a political vendetta. That will not be tolerated."

"While I wouldn't have put it quite like that, I agree," Weekes nodded. "Regardless of optics, Canada will be a massive boon to handling North America. With it under our control we can mount a concentrated push against the West Coast. We also get the resources their country has, and send a very clear message."

"Authorization to Annex Canada just passed the Congress," Saudia nodded. "All that we need to do is execute the plan. The media will have a field day, of course, but it's all in presentation." She straightened up. "I suspect that the population will be more accepting of our decision when they see what the Canadian government is actually defending."

A smile graced Elizabeth's face. "Their parody of an intelligence agency will be greatly beneficial. Despite what the good Prime Minister has the world believe, there are those in Canada who are rather…irritated…that the Prime Minister is acting like a tree-hugging moron. People I've reached out to."

She tapped a few buttons on the holotable. "Benjamin Varys, a computer forensics expert currently employed with the Ottawa Police service. He's a rather vocal opponent of Murphy, and since the good Prime Minister has made several questionable cuts to the police as a whole, there likely will not be much resistance to our occupation."

Elizabeth set her tablet down. "Where Benjamin comes in is taking down the city grids. Much as most governments try to hide it, there is very little security on power grids and power plants in general. Thankfully no one usually exploits these, but for us it means that we can reliably take down the majority of the country provided we can access the plant computers. Benjamin has provided us a program to give us complete control, and has assured us that it will work. He supposedly tested it out on the Capitol Building grid."

Saudia nodded. "Excellent. I'll be sure to commend him once we take the country. Is there anyone else?"

Elizabeth pressed several more buttons. "Indeed, and this one is potentially the most important." A new figure popped up, an older man with graying hair and a slightly ragged beard. "Logan Campbell, Commander of the Canadian Army. A useful figure, as you can imagine, and he's apparently been butting heads with the legislature regarding the entire invasion. It wasn't hard to convince him to work with us."

Stein nodded approvingly. "Even in Canada, patriots do exist."

"This is significant," Weekes said, inclining his head to Elizabeth respectfully. "If he orders the Army to stand down, that removes the majority of what little threat they pose to us."

Saudia glanced at Elizabeth. "While this is certainly good news, I assume they want something in return?"

"Yes, but it's perfectly reasonable as far as I'm concerned," Elizabeth confirmed. "Benjamin wants to work in the Peacekeepers, preferably in high-activity zones."

"No issue," Stein said immediately. "I would be more than happy to accommodate someone like him."

"There is a bit of a complication," Elizabeth admitted. "He's a paraplegic. Front-line work might not be suitable for him-"

"Please," Stein interrupted. "That isn't a concern for me. Prosthetics have advanced to the point where his condition could be negated. I dare say it would be a positive image beyond the fact that I get a competent Peacekeeper, since all of you care about optics. Tell him he'll get what he wants."

"Noted," Elizabeth nodded. "As for Logan, he wants to command the Canadian Legion when the military is reorganized. Laura?"

"Reasonable," she agreed with a nod. "It would certainly be better to have one of their own in command; tell him his request will be granted."

"Then it's settled," Saudia stated, looking at all of them. "Make the final preparations. I want Canada under our control within the week. Remember that we have the aliens to deal with as well, there is no time to delay."

They all saluted her, and she adjourned the meeting, feeling rather pleased about the progress they'd made.

A shame Canada had to be annexed, but it was probably for the best.

---

ADVENT Command, Switzerland

The Commander set the tablet down and looked up at Saudia, giving a short nod. "A good plan, from what I can see. While there will be people who have issues with annexation, I suspect more people are going to be furious that the Canadians were even attempting to remain neutral in this situation."

"The larger problem is going to be gauging the Canadian population response," Saudia said, scratching her forehead. "Elizabeth seems to think they're docile enough, but they might not take kindly to our occupation. They might decide to speak out in ways we can't exactly legally stop."

The Commander snorted. He wondered if she was being sarcastic or if her years in EXALT had made her blind to certain perceptions. "ADVENT is taking over the country. I would be more surprised if there isn't an outcry. That being said, I don't think the people are content to just sit by as the aliens kill us. Murphy thrives on public approval and his image. Destroy those, and the population will be too distracted to do anything."

"The alien threat is damning," Saudia nodded thoughtfully. "But for his idiotic ideals, he is annoyingly consistent. Much as I don't like it, his response isn't out of character."

The Commander raised an eyebrow. "Then there is a simple tactic: Fabrication. If you believe that the soon-to-be deposed Prime Minister will retain some measure of influence, destroy whatever goodwill he had. It is allowed in the Advent Directive in these circumstances."

"I'm not sure that will even be necessary," Saudia countered. "While effective, I doubt that such a tactic is the best option. Everyone has something they want to hide, and I'm sure there is something we could exploit, should we even need it. Fabrication could backfire, and this is a case where I'm not sure the risk would be worth it." Saudia shrugged. "I'll have Elizabeth look into that regardless. Returning to the primary subject, I want you to be there when I announce the operation. The world needs to see us united on this, and the support of XCOM publically would be useful."

"On that we are agreed," the Commander confirmed. "I'll be there. Although I doubt you need our support for the operation itself."

"No," Saudia dismissed with a wave. "The Canadian military does not pose a threat, and Commander Logan will salvage the majority of the Army. I expect resistance to be minimal at best, and in the end, I don't know how many soldier and police will be willing to die for a leader who has repeatedly dismissed them over his career."

The Commander was rather curious to see how accurate that really was. Patriotism was a thing, but it was typically constrained to America and wasn't nearly as popular in the rest of the world, outside of dictatorships. Canada had never really embraced military patriotism or displayed extreme national pride. He imagined fighting for a leader who wished you didn't exist was, in fact, one of the truest forms of patriotism.

But patriotism was doing what was best for the country, not for the leader.

If a leader didn't respect the purpose the military and law enforcement served, then they didn't deserve their loyalty.

Ironically, in a perfect world Murphy would be the ideal leader. The issue was that this wasn't an ideal world, and to pretend otherwise was delusional. War would never cease, nor would crime. It was simply a matter of mitigation and defense. To willingly ignore the realities of the world was irresponsible and naïve.

The Prime Minister was undoubtedly a good man. Just not a very smart one.

"The international response will be interesting," the Commander said, setting the tablet down. "I wonder if it will increase membership."

"The southern half of South America and Africa are really the only areas where we don't have influence," Saudia said, bringing up the holomap. "I suspect that the response will be limited, especially from China."

"China has gone out of their way to avoid provoking you," the Commander noted, appraising the map. "It might not be a bad idea to try and open some kind of negotiations with them now. They aren't idiots, and with the aliens right outside them, they may listen to reason."

"Unlikely," Saudia disagreed flatly. "Not yet at least. While they aren't being deliberately provocative, they have unofficially made their stance clear. I have no problem with that, provided it stays that way." She pointed at Europe. "I expect that the EU will fully collapse within a few months after this. France leaving will start a domino effect, and once the UK joins ADVENT, that spells the end for the EU."

"You don't think they'll condemn this?" The Commander asked, curious.

"No," she answered, a grim smile on her face. "I suspect they'll be too scared to officially say anything, for fear of being annexed by us. Baseless for the moment, but the sentiment will be useful if it brings the rest of Europe into the fold. The only critics of this move will be the media and certain parties on the internet."

The Commander looked at the serious figure of the Chancellor, staring over the holomap with an expression he could only describe as controlled on her face. He frowned. "Fear isn't why we want this to work. It has its uses, but it won't build anything sustaining. While I would never base decisions on public perception, I think that it might not be a bad idea to focus on some of the more positive aspects of ADVENT. Neuter the media's bite with the truth, all they have to talk about is how bad things are, and the so-called 'imperialism' and 'brutality' of ADVENT."

Saudia cracked a smile and made a show of rolling her eyes. "The issue is that they are under no obligation to do it. Their only strict guideline, that you put in, was that they had to be factual. Technically, none of them have broken the law yet, and are subtly rebranding their stations to be 'opinion' based, which allows them to get away with direct criticism and lies."

"Figures they'd find a way to abuse it," the Commander sighed. "I also believe I put in some additional requirements to lessen that. Although those would be extreme steps."

"I don't think it's a good idea to kill them off yet," Saudia agreed slowly. "However, the issue is making them irrelevant. Too many people still listen to them, and while our own state-run platform is doing…decent…it's boring. It is not easy to get people to care about the daily decisions and facts because the truth is boring. There is a reason the media has become sensationalized."

The Commander thought for a moment. "Perhaps you're handling them the wrong way. It's about reaching the right audience, and the audience that we will need is the younger generations, and we do know that their preferred method of consuming entertainment is through the Internet; social media specifically."

Saudia looked up, her eyes sightless as she thought. "Internet personalities are influential in their own right. It is an untapped market."

"Just an idea," the Commander said. "Propaganda has been lax, and that should change. We need to keep boosting recruitment, as well as focusing on the aliens and the heroic ADVENT and XCOM soldiers fighting for the planet. Dealing with the aliens is simpler than making the population want to support you. No matter how good you are, the majority are prone to manipulation by any party. They must be controlled by ADVENT, not foreign or media influences."

"I think we can both agree on that," Saudia said, rolling her shoulders. She was silent for a few moments. "It's interesting. I thought that it would be…simpler…than this. I always wanted to unite the world, but there are factors that I hadn't even thought to consider. Had our original plan succeeded, I suspect we would have lost control within years. We were too arrogant and would not have trusted anyone but ourselves with any sort of real power." She chuckled. "Quite the opposite of reality. Oddly enough, I suspect you were the best thing that could happen to us."

"We have similar goals," the Commander answered. "And out of everyone, you were best suited to try and undertake this task. But you're right. You would have been deposed eventually. Fortunate I suppose, that you understood the need to unite."

"Mhmm, yes," Saudia said softly. "I've wondered, what happens should we win? You are quite adamant that my place is here now, but I believe you never specified what would happen to me after, or anyone in EXALT for that matter."

The Commander simply looked at her for a few moments. She did appear genuinely curious, and seemed resigned to whatever answer he gave. "That ultimately depends on if you do what is needed," he answered. "Defend humanity to the best of your ability, and you have nothing to worry about. Fail, and I suspect you won't live much longer."

She gave a single nod. "Fair. I suppose it wouldn't make much sense to dispose of someone useful, simply based on their past."

Now the Commander gave a nod. "If we were judged solely on past crimes, I would likely be dead. As far as I'm concerned, everything is reset. Our pasts are not important, only what we do now. Defeating the aliens is all that matters. We can sort out the aftermath when that is accomplished."

"Focusing on the present is best," Saudia agreed. "I'm glad you understand that."

While he'd meant what he said, they both knew that even if their pasts were ignored, they would never be, nor should be, forgotten.

---

Riyadh ADVENT Command, Saudi Arabia

It had been…she didn't even know how long it had been since she'd had a solid drink. Too long. At the same time, it still wasn't enough to really help her.

If there was one thing Betos utterly hated, it was higher-ups considering their work done, giving a victory speech, and turning over a hostile country to them. The Commander had fucked right off after the battle, leaving the city in her immediate control. Thanks Commander, really glad you had such confidence in me.

She wasn't sure if she should be flattered or not. The first days had been, predictably, chaotic, as the surrendered soldiers were processed, and she tried organizing some kind of system to let the citizens know what was going on. That had predictably gone over very well, and while the majority did seem to largely accept their new reality, there was a section that turned violent.

In the grand scheme of things, there hadn't been much damage done. So far the death toll was up to fifteen, and quite a lot of property damage, not counting the fact that there were an unknown amount of civilians also caught in the suicide blasts, or simply were in the line of fire.

Then the Peacekeepers had arrived, which had initially been welcome, until she actually saw how they operated. These weren't standard Peacekeepers either. SSR Officers, in heavy sleek black armor made up a considerable amount of the Peacekeeping force. For all intents and purposes, they were in charge of securing the city. She was just the Marshal of the Garrison, and terrorism was not her job.

Betos had always moved on quickly whenever they'd taken a town or city, waiting for the Peacekeepers to show up, and then moving onto the next destination. She'd never actually seen how they operated.

Now that she had, she wondered who had actually written up the guidelines for Peacekeepers.

ADVENT had more than a zero-tolerance policy for terrorism; anyone remotely associated with identified terrorists was a potential target. The SSR were not subtle, and Betos woke up to reports that the SSR had conducted multiple raids, and been in several shootouts throughout the night. She'd seen them fight once, and these guys were clearly special forces, and utterly unafraid of the threat these terrorists posed.

They didn't negotiate, and they didn't take prisoners. A small group of rebels had taken a few families hostage and the SSR had stormed the building anyway and killed them, though weren't fast enough to save some of the hostages.

The regular Peacekeepers were not much better. They were the most visible face of ADVENT, but they acted more like soldiers than law enforcement. Betos suspected many of these people were foreign to the region, and deeply suspicious of anyone who even so much as held a conversation. It wasn't uncommon for Peacekeepers to go up to pairs or groups of citizens and ask for identification. Those who didn't have it were immediately directed to the ADVENT Registry that had been enacted soon after the Peacekeepers had arrived.

Betos took another drink, sitting alone in her thoughts. It had been one thing to hear about the stories of Peacekeepers, the rumors all of them had dismissed as exaggerated. But that largely appeared to not be the case, and honestly, some part of her didn't believe it was wholly unjustified. It ultimately worked. There was almost no kind of sedition anymore and the SSR had left, and sent a few more units of Peacekeepers.

Things were slowly returning to normal, and there were apparently 'great plans' for restructuring the entire region.

The entire situation had made her deeply uncomfortable. The Peacekeepers had been doing their job, but it still stung when she walked the streets, and any of the citizens drew back in terror. It shouldn't be like that. ADVENT should inspire hope and respect.

Not fear.

But the damage was done, and she doubted that they would ever fully trust any of them, even if ADVENT ultimately helped them. She didn't blame them, in their situation she'd be scared too. Hell, she was scared just how far they were willing to go. She swirled her drink around her glass. I'm sorry, she thought as an apology. I would have done things differently.

Would it have worked? Maybe, maybe not. Not much point thinking about it now. Sure, the terrorists were gone, but it came at a price she felt was too high.

"A bit early for that, isn't it?" Mox asked, coming in and sitting down opposite her. They were alone in what passed for her quarters, which was just a bed and a table, of which she was now sitting at. He was one of the only ones who could stop by without an invitation; which people always got the wrong idea from.

"I've now got a city that's terrified of us, and a bunch of Peacekeepers who don't listen to me," she answered bluntly. "I'm having a fucking drink."

Mox's lips twitched at that. "I hear you. This whole situation isn't good."

"Understatement," Betos muttered, taking a long gulp. "ADVENT doesn't understand that sometimes you don't send in the damn SSR when there is a small amount of terrorist activity. They only made it worse."

"Seems to be the standard ADVENT procedure," Mox agreed bitterly. "First, do as much damage as possible and crush your enemies into dirt, then make them terrified of you, then actually try to help them. It's an inverse of whatever that oath is that doctors take."

"Yeah," Betos muttered, resting her forehead in one of her hands. "And there is exactly nothing I can do about it except advise. It's not like the Peacekeepers are doing anything illegal. The fact that this is legal is a problem to me."

"You could always resign," Mox suggested. "Helsa, what are we actually fighting for right now? Who are we actually working for?"

"Supposedly fighting against the aliens," Betos shrugged. "That's what we're supposed to be doing. Right now it seems mostly like whoever ADVENT doesn't like at the moment. How long until China does something ADVENT doesn't like. As for who?" She took another drink. "Really only for my soldiers. You. Even the people that hate us. Someone has to try to help them, might as well be me. It's clear that ADVENT doesn't care about people, only statistics."

She waved the hand holding her glass aimlessly. "You don't see the reports I get sent. I'm already getting orders to protect engineering teams who are setting up or renovating new oil refineries. ADVENT Intelligence is setting up propaganda campaigns targeting specific citizens based on psyche profiles for recruitment. ADVENT has plans for here, they don't care about the people here, but they are going to put them to work. Weapon construction, city fortification, each person is another resource to use. It shouldn't be like this."

Mox cocked his head. "So quit. The only reason I'm still here is because you need every bit of support you can. Far as I can tell, no one else even remotely cares about the fact that we're working for a dictator."

Betos rubbed her eyes. "I'm not sure I'd go that far-"

"Really?" Mox raised an eyebrow, his tone bitter. "A dictator suppresses anything they don't like, they rule by fear, they impose their will on the people who can't fight back. They exploit and use whatever they can. And when they are smart, they are terrifying. This Chancellor, and everyone working with her, are systematically destroying anything resembling discourse. It is their way or off to the dungeon for you. These people weren't even elected, and now they're essentially in charge of the world."

His jaw was clenched as he continued. "The Middle East started this, but it gave ADVENT an excuse to come here. They had a reason, even if we disagree with the methods. How long until they invade some country under the guise of simply refusing to help them as much as they'd like? You might have mentioned China in jest, but I think that's not too far off."

"I don't know," Betos admitted. "They keep saying they aren't tyrants, authoritarians or whatever. They do something like that and that is exposed as a lie. People can't ignore that."

"And what are we doing here?" Mox asked. "ADVENT doesn't deserve you trying to help the people. And you can't change anything on your own. Listen, you aren't the only one. I've been talking to the other officers and soldiers. They aren't happy with how ADVENT is doing things, they're furious at seeing what the Peacekeepers are doing."

"And what do you want me to do?" She finally exploded, slamming her glass on the table furiously. "Desert? Quit? Do you want everything to get worse? I'll probably be executed, and probably you as well, since ADVENT Intelligence doesn't fuck around with loyalty. You aren't exactly subtle. Resigning would just be cowardly, and I'd be shuffled somewhere quietly."

"That depends on two things," Mox said softly. "Where you go…and how many go with you."

She stared at him in disbelief. "If you think anyone else would desert, I think-"

"Why?" Mox crossed his arms. "You know what I've found out? That every one of them thinks they're alone in how they feel. All of them feel they're trapped, thinking there's something wrong with how this is being done. But no one ever talks about it, because they don't want to get reported. They don't want to seem disloyal. They are loyal to you, Helsa, not ADVENT." The last word he spat out. "If you leave, I believe they would follow. Your soldiers are good people. Good people don't belong in ADVENT."

She drunkenly chuckled. "Let's say I actually did something that stupid. On the off chance ADVENT didn't execute us on sight, then where the fuck would we go?"

Mox clasped his hands together. "Africa."

Betos coughed. "Sorry?"

"ADVENT has ignored Africa for whatever reason," Mox continued. "But I know some people there. They haven't ignored ADVENT, but they're really worried that they might come. But they're not united, even if some talks are taking place. If you come with even a portion of your soldiers, that might be the catalyst needed to unite them. It's only a matter of time before ADVENT remembers them."

"Or," Betos pointed out. "I'd just bring ADVENT down on them. I don't want to put them in a position where they either have to turn us over or face ADVENT invading. Unlike the US, ADVENT won't settle for doing nothing."

Mox shrugged. "There are ways around that. They have to know where you'd be, for starters. Can't be justified in attacking, if they don't know for sure. I guarantee that the leaders of these nations would lie to keep you safe. And honestly, there isn't much choice."

Betos leaned back in her chair, head swimming. "I'm way too drunk for my own good, since I'm actually considering this."

Mox stood. "Keep thinking on it. Whatever you decide, I'll stand with you. But remember that you're not alone." He left her alone then, letting her contemplate what they'd said.

Whatever happened, there would be no second chances.

She'd have to think about it, preferably when she was actually sober.

---

Australia, Northern Territory Resistance Camp

It would have been more of a celebration, if the news hadn't come that Japan had officially fallen, but even still, Abby was fairly happy with their progress so far here. They'd freed two more small towns, and the Chronicler had more soldiers for whatever his plan was. Harper was happy, and had allowed an unofficial celebration of their progress.

Abby was personally concerned about Japan, but she wasn't overly surprised it had fallen. This time the aliens would have probably applied overwhelming force, and defeat was inevitable. From the short conversation she'd had with Zhang, ADVENT was going to preserve the majority of their forces, and move the main battleground to Korea.

The biggest issue, he'd said, was another Ethereal. One called Caelior, some kind of telekinetic specialist. Based on his description, an Ethereal that powerful was a problem.

Obviously.

Still, Zhang had been pleased at how much they'd accomplished, and he had insinuated that both XCOM and ADVENT may be conducting dedicated strikes in Australia. That had also made Harper very happy. Once the major cities were liberated, that would open up a lot more options without worrying about too much collateral damage.

"No drink?" Joseph asked, walking up to her. "Not much for parties, are you?"

She gave him a sidelong look. "That's a rather large presumption. Or is this your attempt at a pick-up line?"

"Ouch," he playfully winced. "Nah, just noticed you aren't doing much. You just stand there and watch everything. Most people would try mingling a little bit. Or at least trying not to seem so conspicuous."

"Well, you figured that out," Abby shrugged. "Besides, I have quite a bit on my mind. Japan, and what's next here."

"Ah, right," he nodded, turning a little more serious. "Did anyone you know die?"

Abby shook her head. "No. But then again, I don't really know a lot of the soldiers anymore. I saw a bunch of names, but none of them really registered."

"Mhmm, I suppose that's for the best," Joseph agreed, leaning against the wall by her. "I don't really know a lot of people in general. Well, I do, but not people I know well. Friends are something of a luxury."

"They certainly seem that way now," Abby agreed grimly. "I'm not sure how many people still remember me in XCOM. Everyone I knew in XCOM Intelligence died. Don't really have anyone now."

"Shame," Joseph commented. "At least I've got a family, and I have people I trust. You really don't have anyone?"

"My parents are still alive," Abby shrugged. "I haven't contacted them in years. We never got along, and I had no desire to talk to them again. I assume they're fine. Had a couple friends in med school, but they moved on."

"Do you want some unsolicited advice?" Joseph asked.

Abby sighed. "Go ahead."

"I don't know whatever problems you have with your parents," Joseph continued, sounding interestingly genuine as he talked. "But I would at least let them know you're alive. People can change over time, and in times like this, well…" he trailed off. "Past differences seem more trivial. Just something to think about."

She thought about if for a few seconds. "Are you speaking from personal experience?"

"Partially, yes," Joseph answered. "Though not in a negative way. Whatever you think of EXALT, family was an unbreakable pillar. Parents only wanted what was best for their children. I wouldn't be where I am without them, and they are the only ones even today I can unconditionally trust. That's special to me. It's sad when others don't have that for whatever reason."

Abby felt somewhat envious at that. "Maybe I'll do that," she relented. "Whenever this assignment is done."

"Well, at the rate we're going, it might not be too much longer," he said, looking at the groups of soldiers. "So, I'm curious. What's your impression of our mutual elderly friend?"

Abby was careful not to betray anything. "Sorry?"

He motioned to the Chronicler who was chatting with Harper as they shared a drink. "Him. You two have talked, so I assume you know some things. Maybe he even told you his name. We just called him the Chronicler."

"No luck with me," Abby admitted. "He introduced himself the same way. What do you know about him?"

"Only what everyone knew," Joseph answered wistfully. "An expert historian, been around as long as anyone can remember. It's like he doesn't age, and is extremely smart. His goal is apparently to chronicle the 'true history of the world' or something like that. More of a personal project, but you'd probably find it fascinating. My guess is that he's still doing it. Far as I know he's friends with Saudia, and he has a higher clearance than almost anyone, even in ADVENT Intelligence."

Given what she knew about him, that didn't surprise her. "I'm not sure I'd want to know just how much history differs from what I know."

"I can understand that," Joseph chuckled. "I mean, I don't think people would be happy knowing that everything they understood was a lie. So, I'm curious just how much you know. Pick an event, and I'll tell you what we did."

Abby frowned. "Isn't that against…some kind of secrecy agreement you have? You really want me to guess? And why would I even believe you?"

"XCOM and EXALT are working together," he dismissed easily. "Besides, this is ancient history. I doubt you could do anything with it, and if anyone would believe you. As for trusting me? Well, that's up to you."

"Alright, I'll play along," Abby nodded, trying to think of a non-obvious question. "The American Revolution."

His eyes lit up. "I like that. Most people wouldn't go back that far. Let's see…" he tapped his chin. "Well, we were very different back then. Honestly, EXALT, or the Illuminati as we were known then, we were more the secretive hired assassins who had very wealthy backers. Monarchies had mixed results with infiltration, but we saw potential in a democracy. In short, we identified some people who we thought would be useful, and convinced them to rebel."

He smiled as he recounted the tale. "We didn't invest heavily until it was clear that a certain George Washington gave the American forces a good chance of victory. Washington was not one of us, of course, but certain allies of his were. Benjamin Franklin was one, and he provided Washington with our soldiers. Don't bother trying to look them up. Even most of the American soldiers didn't know they existed, but the assassination, poisoning, and general sabotage of the British forces ultimately guaranteed victory. Despite what history says, the Revolution was never in danger of failure. When we backed it, their success was guaranteed."

Considering what she knew about EXALT, that wasn't as shocking as it might have been. Assuming Joseph was telling the truth, they really had been around centuries. "Why do I think this was part of a larger plan?"

"Because it was," Joseph emphasized. "This was part of an operation to lessen the power of the monarchy. It was difficult and risky to properly manipulate, and the concept we felt was outdated. You will notice that America steadily increased in power, largely thanks to us, and we took action elsewhere. The French Revolution comes to mind, and we were rather satisfied with the result. The last remnants of the monarchy were systematically abolished over time, thanks in part to us."

"Huh," was all she said. She was now curious about what the Chronicler had written about. Perhaps she could ask him about it sometime. "So, how far back does EXALT actually go?"

"All the way back to the Crusades at the very least," Joseph answered. "Although records are…scarce. I don't think it's remotely comparable. At some point they decided to create a Chronicler position, and that's what their job is. I think the seventeenth century was the first time an actual line of documents were created, detailing various events and operations."

So that would put the Chronicler at…four hundred years?

How could he possibly be alive? Did psionics extend life that much?

"The more you know," Abby said quietly. "Thanks."

"Anytime," he said with a flashed smile. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to mingle some more. Let me know if you want more of the history of the world being shared. I've never gotten the chance to tell anyone before. I like it."

Abby gave him a wan smile. "I'll be sure and let you know."

He gave a mock salute with two straight fingers, and strode off, leaving her with a lot of questions running through her mind. If nothing else, he was interesting to talk to. More straightforward than the Chronicler at any rate.

Abby wondered just what his actual plan was. Because he was clearly hiding something.

---

The Praesidium, Office of the Commander

The three women before him were in their regular XCOM fatigues, although Gloria really only had some loose garments to hide the extent of her cybernetics as a result of the MEC conversion. Liliyane had fully recovered, and he could sense that she was somewhat apprehensive about what she was being called up for, and was definitely a little fidgety.

Jasmine on the other hand emulated her MEC comrade, in her stoic stance, simply waiting for him to begin. "At ease," he told them, setting down the tablet he had been holding. He'd been reviewing their profiles, and from what he could tell, there likely wouldn't be many issues. Gloria was not an issue, since he doubted she would care as much as the result of her conversion, but Jasmine and Liliyane might have stronger feelings.

They did deserve to know beforehand that Canada was being annexed, and more importantly, why. While he doubted they would do something drastic, blindsiding them without so much as a warning was something he could not justify. It wasn't as though they were going to warn the government.

"What did you want from us, Commander?" Jasmine asked, her unusually grey eyes focused intently on him.

"Seconded," Liliyane added.

The Commander hesitated. "How much are you aware of the current relationship between Canada and ADVENT?"

Liliyane glanced over at Gloria and Jasmine, clearly wanting them to answer first. "I have not been updating myself on the current situation," Gloria said in her monotone. "I have not received any information from the Canadian government or military, nor am I familiar with current diplomatic and previous efforts."

"The Prime Minister doesn't seem to like ADVENT much," Jasmine said, giving a more Human answer, although she was similarly confused. "Last I saw, relations were strained. Not hostile, but strained."

Liliyane absentmindedly ran her hand through her cropped brown hair. "Eh, I don't know much either. But I know you're aware that I got authorization to be recalled, should I have taken it from the Canadian Army. That was weird, and I clearly turned it down, but that told me that they were offering me an out…though I didn't know why."

The Commander focused on her. "You never attempted to figure out why?"

"Why?" Liliyane shrugged. "Canada will come around eventually, and we need to fight the aliens. Even if the Prime Minister isn't doing anything, I don't want it to seem like there aren't any Canadians that care about this."

The Commander nodded. It matched up with what he'd suspected. He knew Liliyane was an immigrant from the Philippines, and in his experience, immigrants were sometimes the strongest patriots he knew. Not a surprise she wanted to represent Canada in the best light possible. He was not looking forward to explaining the actual situation.

"The short version is that the relationship between Canada and ADVENT is much worse than is known publicaly," the Commander revealed, his gaze sweeping over all of them. "For all intents and purposes, Canada has denied ADVENT any sort of aid or support whatsoever. They cite disagreements with how ADVENT is run, and mistakenly believe it to be an authoritarian and oppressive government."

Jasmine furrowed her eyebrows. "While ADVENT is not exactly the same level of freedom as even the previous United States, and Canada, calling it that seems…inaccurate."

"Prime Minister Jace Murphy is noted as a pacifist, anti-military, anti-police, and far left political affiliation," Gloria suddenly said in the same tone. "Due to ADVENT restricting violent protest and pro-alien propaganda, as well as an advanced and expanded military, with clear authority within the ADVENT government; factors lead me to believe his opposition stems from idealism and personal morals, and not facts." A pause. "Prior to my conversion, I know I did not like him."

"Hey, Murphy's not a bad guy," Liliyane protested. "Although he didn't have many friends in the military, and admittedly made some decisions that made us angry. He's an idealist, nothing wrong with that."

"Right or wrong, it doesn't matter," the Commander shook his head. "In light of the recent losses in Japan, and continued alien aggression, that Canada is refusing to cooperate under any circumstance is a major issue to ADVENT." He paused. "Within twenty-four hours, Chancellor Vyandar will be announcing that ADVENT will annex Canada, and it will become a member state of ADVENT, and the current administration will be taken into custody."

Gloria had no physical or emotional response whatsoever. Jasmine stiffened suddenly, and the color drained from Liliyane's face. "What?" She asked in a small voice. "What?"

"Was the Prime Minister even aware this could happen?" Jasmine practically demanded, taking a step forward. "How strong of an attempt at diplomacy was there?"

"The Prime Minister was well aware of the possibility," the Commander answered calmly, noting that while two of the three were shocked, that was it. For now. "And Saudia attempted several times to renegotiate an agreement, and was flatly rejected each time. There is proof, which she will be releasing when she announces the operation."

"Fuck," Liliyane breathed. "Is…is there no other way?"

"No," The Commander answered.

Jasmine rubbed her forehead. "I wanted Canada to join the fight. But not like this."

"No one wanted it like this," the Commander said gently. "But there isn't a choice. If Canada will not work with ADVENT, then there is little option. No action is not possible. Saudia has assured me that the casualties will be kept to a minimum, and they will be accepting any surrendering Canadian forces."

There were a few moments of silence. "XCOM is supporting this, I guess?" Liliyane said, taking a few breaths.

The Commander nodded. "We are. XCOM will not participate, but in light of the circumstances, ADVENT is justified in annexation. This is the sole fault of the government, and Saudia realizes that. Should it go according to plan, Canada will be a full member state within several months, with full voting and legislative rights."

"Small comfort, I guess," Jasmine sighed. "Damn it! They don't stand a chance if they fight!"

"If it goes well, that won't happen," the Commander said. "Commander Logan Campbell will be assisting ADVENT in securing the country. I think you know him, Mrs. Stark."

Liliyane's lips were a thin line. "Yes, I do. Not surprised, really. He's hated Murphy for years. I know there are a lot in the military that feel the same way. I suppose he'll order the Army to stand down, and I'd also guess there will be a lot of others that follow suit. Murphy is not someone you want to potentially die for."

"I hope that they see it that way," the Commander agreed. "But I thought you should be aware before the operation commences."

Jasmine took a breath. "I…thank you, Commander. I wouldn't exactly call it good news, but I'm glad you told us."

"As am I," Liliyane said, rubbing her eyes. "Just…gah, why would he be this stupid? He didn't strike me as an idiot!"

"I don't think he is," the Commander said. "Not really. But he doesn't accept the reality of the situation, and his own biases are affecting his judgement. There is little that can be done to change that."

"And now Canada will pay the price for his pride," Liliyane said sadly. "Hopefully ADVENT isn't too…harsh."

"Unlikely," the Commander reassured her. "This isn't the Middle East, and the population is not violent, and the military and law enforcement will not want to die for nothing. Like I said, should things go well, it will be resolved within a few months."

"Then we should hope that the timetable is accurate," Gloria said. "I estimate that when the Collective learns of the annexation, they will classify Canada as a threat and act accordingly."

The Commander nodded. "Likely. But that will take time, and in that time, we can prepare. So will there be any issues?"

Liliyane shook her head, and Jasmine followed suit. "This can be laid at the feet of the Prime Minister," Jasmine said flatly. "Even if I had issues with it, you are not ADVENT. We're XCOM. We fight aliens and for humanity now, not just one nation. That you didn't hide this is something I won't forget, and neither will Lily I think."

"Seconded," Liliyane said emphatically. "You'll have no issues from us. Our loyalty is still firmly with humanity and XCOM."

"There are no changes to my parameters," Gloria added. "Priority threat is still the Collective. No additional information has changed that."

The Commander felt rather proud. Any who could put the greater good above their past loyalties were those he was proud to have with him. "I appreciate that," he told them. "You are dismissed."

All the soldiers saluted, and then exited his office, leaving him alone; waiting until the time came to begin the operation.

---

Fort McCoy, Wisconsin

Roman had never been to the United States before, and he really didn't think he'd seen enough to give an opinion one way or another, since the moment the Middle East had been wrapped up, he, and quite a few other teams, had been redeployed to the United States, and had spent the entire time running through a lot of training exercises.

He was slightly miffed that they hadn't gotten a decent break. If he was coming to America, he wanted to experience it a little bit.

That being said, it was before Japan, and that had spooked all of them. If they needed to skip out on some vacation time, then so be it. Still, the training exercises were definitely preparing them for something, but what that something was they hadn't bothered to tell them yet.

Until now.

Roman wasn't sure if he'd heard correctly.

"Could you repeat that?" He asked his immediate superior officer, Corporal Hawkins, a comically short American woman whose face seemed perpetually irritated.

"You heard correctly," she repeated. "Assemble your squad and report to the Hangar in one hour. We got orders that Canada is being annexed, and this strike is going to be quick and painless. Don't want to give the aliens more time than necessary."

So ADVENT could annex countries. Interesting. "Have they declared war on us?" He asked.

"Short of actually announcing it," Hawkins answered, crossing her arms. "They have refused to work with ADVENT whatsoever, which is a problem when it comes to our operations in America. Guess the Chancellor got tired of putting up with them, and is going to solve the problem herself."

That seemed extremely odd. What exactly did Canada have to lose with working with ADVENT? Did they not want to protect the planet? Unless…

He frowned. "Have they been compromised by alien infiltrators?" He knew such a thing was possible.

"If they have, no one's told me," Hawkins shrugged. "Wouldn't surprise me though, and it would explain this kind of response. ADVENT wouldn't do it unless it was serious. I also wouldn't be surprised if they kept it quiet. That would unsettle a lot of people."

Roman nodded. The reasons weren't too important to him. The fact that any country was sitting out this war was borderline treasonous in and of itself. And if they were even refusing to work with the only entity that was doing something…well, he wasn't too sympathetic to their reasons. Anyone who ignored the alien threat was either blind, stupid, or compromised.

"What will be our objectives?" He asked.

"Commander Logan Campbell of the Canadian Army is with us," Hawkins said, picking up several pieces of paper from a nearby table. "Once he announces he is with us, and orders the Army to stand down, I think resistance will be minimal, if any at all. The team you'll be with will be charged with securing Edmonton and the legislative body there. With any luck, the program provided by Benjamin, another Canadian helping us, will take down the power grid to the city and cut it off until the city is secured. You should not have much trouble."

"Sounds good," Roman agreed. The majority of the military not being an issue was a huge boon, and would make everything go much quicker. "Any restrictions I should know about?"

"No civilian casualties whenever possible," Hawkins ordered. "Canada isn't the Middle East. These people aren't potential insurgents, and if any Canadian military or police do fight back, the chances of them employing terrorist methods or hostage situations is low. So watch your fire. The last thing we need is to give the media more ammo to use against ADVENT."

Roman rubbed his forehead, his lips stretching into a grim smile. "I'll do my best. There will be fallout from this."

"Oh, I'm sure of it," Hawkins agreed. "But that isn't my problem or yours. The Chancellor has ordered this, and she can deal with the consequences. We do our jobs. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Dismissed, and good luck," she said, inclining her head to him.

He saluted and left, wondering how his team was going to take this. ADVENT was a never-ending adventure it seemed. Of everything he had expected, annexing Canada of all countries had never crossed his mind as a possibility.

Oh well. With any luck this would be over quickly.

---

ADVENT Command Courtyard, Switzerland

Saudia stood in the same place as she had during her first official address, and oddly enough, with many of the same people behind her. Although there definitely seemed to be a lot more…ornamentation around the general area. The ADVENT Command Center had been getting a lot of security upgrades and general aesthetic improvements, which largely consisted of liberal dispersions of the ADVENT logo everywhere.

She didn't really care either way, but it did seem to impress many of the reporters and media here, who were taking pictures, video, and everything else they did. They packed the courtyard in front of her, while ADVENT Peacekeepers stood at their posts, ever vigilant for the slightest sign of trouble. She really wasn't expecting anything, since these people had been screened well beforehand.

But they were definitely curious at what she had to say. Rumors she heard said that they were expecting her to speak about Japan and the current situation with the military.

Well, they were going to be in for a surprise.

They were quiet as she took the podium, at least one kind of representative of every ADVENT member nation behind her; a show of unity that would be crucial as she made her speech. The Commander, Treduant, Gwan, Habicht, all were behind and waiting along with the media. Behind them was a massive projection screen which was playing a short spinning ADVENT logo, with red and black tints. A placeholder for what she would be revealing later.

She grasped the sides of the podium with her hands, and began. "Citizens of ADVENT, and those across the world, it is again a privilege to speak before so many today. Over the past months, ADVENT has worked tirelessly to unite the world under one cause, repair the wounds that have festered for generations, and defend our species against the ever encroaching threat of the aliens."

Saudia was sure to work in some pauses into her speech, to allow for the translators to repeat what she was saying. Everyone needed to hear this. "As with any war, there are victories, and there are losses. It is a matter of mitigation and control. I want to assure the people that ADVENT is quickly adapting to the situations as they arise, and heeding the lessons used in our defeat. To expect total victory is unrealistic at this stage, yet despite our enemy being far more advanced, we have held them to a single continent, Japan, and the West Coast of the United States."

Might not be inspiring, but it was the heavily distilled truth. But it was all in presentation. "Yet despite the few setbacks, ADVENT had not slowed in continuing to improve the lives of not just our citizens, but those in the rest of the world. Our cities are growing more industrious and prosperous, our people are united in our cause, and we have brought peace and security to the war-torn regions of the Middle East, and quelled the misguided attacks and corruption plaguing South America. Thanks to the efforts of our Peacekeepers, citizens within ADVENT are without a doubt, the safest in the world."

Oh, there were some people who were going to pick that line apart. There was no applause, but she raised a hand up, more for attention than anything else. "But this is all leading to one singular point; the one purpose for which ADVENT was conceptualized for. All our advancements and achievements are for nothing, so long as the aliens exist. There can be no rest as long as they threaten our lives and freedom. All within ADVENT leads to this; the defense of our species."

Her voice rose. "This is larger than us; this is more than a government fighting its enemies. This concerns the very fate of our species. ADVENT does not simply fight for those within its borders, but for all Humans, regardless of where they live. This is no time for petty divides of ideology and sovereignty. Our very future is at stake, our freedom, and our loved ones. Those are the stakes in this war, the ones our soldiers fight for every day."

That did get some scattered applause, and now came the turn. Her voice hardened. "And yet, there are those that refuse to acknowledge this fact. They refuse to acknowledge the truth that this is not a conflict that one can simply stand on the sidelines and watch. How can one be neutral when the defeat of ADVENT will spell the enslavement and decimation of the entire Human race? That, I am afraid, is not the reality some live in."

"There are those who believe that if they avoid the conflict, that if they stay out of it, that they will be spared. They would rather throw themselves on the mercy of the alien conquerors meekly, than stand and fight for our inherent right to live as a sovereign and independent species; free from any kind of alien control. Our fight is for freedom; their peace is slavery."

Her gaze swept over the crowd, who were now somewhat unsettled by the venom in her voice. "That must end. These people are traitors of the worst kind, the cowards who hide and try to play both sides, hoping and praying that they will be spared by whoever emerges victorious. This is not something that can be ignored, nor will it."

Her voice ripped through the crowd, who were furiously scribbling their notes and hanging on her words. "Canada has taken this path. Their leadership has capitulated to the lie of neutrality. Prime Minister Murphy believes the aliens can be reasoned with. They think that by refusing to assist us, they gain favor with the aliens, should we ultimately fall."

"ADVENT does not seek to impose our methods on independent nations," Saudia stated to them all. "We will work with these sovereign states, even if their ideologies are vastly different to our own. Canada has repeatedly refused to do even this; they would rather they retain their pride and superiority than assist us in repelling the alien threat in the United States. Because of their refusal to help, thousands of our soldiers have perished when there was no need. Their resistance was a matter of disagreement before; now it is a matter of priority."

There was now muttering breaking out in the crowd, who were staring wide-eyed at her, some in clear disbelief. "Neither ADVENT, nor I, will put the sovereignty of one nation above the entire Human race," Saudia continued, her voice letting the controlled fury free. "Diplomacy has failed, reason has failed, all methods to convince the Canadian government of the reality of the alien threat have failed. There are no other choices."

She extended a hand, gesturing to the screen behind her. "But you may believe that is their right. Perhaps, but I would question the ones who would rather see our species enslaved than work with the ones fighting it. Judge for yourself if you wish to see us under their thrall or not." The screen switched to the footage which she had prepared.

From what she knew, XCOM had kept this footage secret for obvious reasons, and it was one of the most chilling things Saudia had ever seen. Yet there was no more potent way to drive home what the aliens truly intended than to watch the footage XCOM had taken from the Sectoid Hive. The speakers blared the unsettling crying of half-grown Human children, thrown into grinding vats to be reduced to organic waste. The Hive had been a nightmare come to life, with the callously discarded bodies of Human babies experimented on only being one part of the show.

The footage jumped to different perspectives, with the XCOM soldiers talking in the background, but no one was paying attention to that. They were watching the cells of genetically mutated Humans; the machines where they were dissected while still alive; additional experimental footage the Sectoids had been so kind as to record, of them casually disassembling children and adults, all while they were still screaming.

Saudia's gaze never wavered from the crowd, all of whom were either stunned, horrified, or most of them were looking away. One or two threw up in the background. "Shut it off!" Someone yelled, a sound between horror and sobbing. Saudia didn't shut it off, but resumed speaking.

"This is what the Canadian government is willing to subject us to. They have seen what you are seeing now. They are under no illusions, but their response is still the same. They believe that we are more of a danger than these creatures doing these experiments to our species. It is said that evil only exists when good men do nothing. I have found nothing more evil than this. ADVENT is fighting to prevent this from being our future; they would welcome it, and accept this evil into our lives; meekly, without any fight, like cowards."

Now came the final blow. "In light of the circumstances, evidence, and approval of the Congress of Nations, I have authorized the annexation of Canada, into a member state of ADVENT."

The pretense of civility the reporters had was shattered, and they began yelling questions at her, or just talking in stunned disbelief. They had clearly not expected this. "ADVENT will be working to ensure this is done as efficiently and quickly as possible," Saudia continued calmly. "Even as I speak to you now, our soldiers are arriving within Canadian territory. We have the support of the Commander of the Canadian Military, Logan Campbell. We have made formal demands for the remaining military forces to stand down, and for the current administration to surrender to our custody."

Saudia allowed a pause. "For any Canadian citizens watching this, you are not our enemy. All that is required is your full cooperation with any ADVENT officials. We will be with you throughout this unfortunate incident. It is not what we wanted, but little choice has been left. We will not stand by and do nothing for that only serves to embolden the aliens. ADVENT will provide what your leaders could not; safety, security, and the willingness to fight for a future free of the alien threat."

She took a step back. "There will be updates on the current situation hourly, and I look forward to us refocusing on the alien threat. There will be no questions taken today. May this incident be resolved peacefully," she finished, giving the ADVENT salute with a fist over her heart, and every single Peacekeeper and soldier followed suit, and she imagined that the Commander was doing it as well.

But it was delivered, and her job was done.

Now it was time to see what happened next.

---

Edmonton, Canada

Roman was unsurprised to see that there weren't many opposing soldiers outside the city as ADVENT marched on it; the latter soldiers still deploying from the helicopters, and even more were coming from armored carriers within hours. The numbers seemed pretty small, twenty-five hundred ADVENT personnel, but all of them were soldiers or officers, and the chances that the Canadian military would put up a fight were close to zero.

It was also apparent that some of the citizens had no idea what was going on, as there was a small stream of traffic leaving the city, although the cars almost immediately turned around when they realized they were driving towards an army, rifles raised in their direction.

"The Canadian Army is standing down," Hawkins updated as they began entering the city perimeter, their target being the Alberta Legislature Building. The entirety of the Alberta government was to be taken into custody, and there were other teams going to the various residences with arrest warrants. "Power is down in the city, they should be paralyzed."

"Acknowledged," Roman stated, motioning that they continue as they were approached by some clear Alberta police officers. Their own weapons were drawn, and looked laughably pitiful compared to the firepower ADVENT had. "We've got law enforcement coming up. Not hostile yet."

"We'll see how long that lasts," Galina muttered, raising her rifle in conjunction with the other soldiers as Roman raised a fist, ordering them to stop. The soldiers behind them froze, and steadied their weapons at the growing number of law enforcement. The chief officer, or at least that was who Roman assumed he was, stepped forward.

"You aren't supposed to be here," he said, a hand resting on his pistol. "We weren't expecting ADVENT, and I'm pretty sure we would have known if you were permitted to enter the city. Especially with an army."

"I am ADVENT Shieldbearer Roman Kostov," Roman greeted. "By order of Chancellor Saudia Vyandar, Canada is to be annexed and a general call for surrender has been sent out to the current administration and military. We have received confirmation that the Canadian Army is standing down, and our mission is to take the Alberta legislature into custody."

The man didn't seem surprised, which told Roman that he knew very well what was going on. "And what would you expect us to do? Just let you take control of our city?"

"That is up to you," Roman said slowly. "If necessary, we will take the city by force. You will die, and unless your department has gauss weaponry or explosive equipment, I doubt you will kill even one of us. I have orders to avoid unnecessary conflict, but I will not hesitate to put you or your officers down if required. Before you throw away your life, think very carefully about what you will accomplish."

There were a few tense moments of silence. "I suppose you have taken down the city grid," the chief said. "If we…stand down…will it be restored?"

Roman cut off external speakers. "Corporal, are you listening?"

"Yes, Shieldbearer," Hawkins confirmed. "Assuming they aren't lying, we can do that. But before that, we will need their assistance in arresting the legislature."

"Understood," Roman nodded, and turned his external speakers back on. "If you stand down, we will restore power; but only after the Alberta legislature has been taken into custody."

The man's face grew grim. "I suppose that might have to do." He stepped back. "We will stand down. But only if you refrain from harming the civilians and treat the legislature…well."

Roman gave a firm nod. "We have no intention of harming the civilians, assuming they stay out of our way. The legislature will not be harmed either, provided they submit quickly. Are they in the Legislature Building?"

"Yes, most are," he confirmed. "There was an emergency session called after the…announcement. The building went into lockdown when the power was cut. They are still in there, and I have officers guarding the building."

That was going to make things easier. Roman waved the soldiers forward, and they kept marching. "ADVENT appreciates your cooperation," he told the chief. "It will not be forgotten, and power will be restored as soon as possible. Ensure that the citizens are out of our way, and all your officers stand down."

"Will do," he agreed, stepping back and allowing Roman to proceed, and with several hundred soldiers at his back, they marched through the streets, following the small mini-map in the upper right corner of their HUDs. The civilians out on the streets fled and stumbled out of the way as they approached, some gasping and staring in shock at the soldiers invading their city.

Shock, more than anything else, stood out on their faces. Roman didn't know if it was because of ADVENT invading, or aftereffects of the horrific images the Chancellor had shown. Roman almost wished he hadn't decided to pay close attention to what had been shown. He'd seen a lot of utterly revolting things, but nothing even remotely at that level of cruelty.

Yet he was sure of one thing. Anyone who could stand by knowing that was what the aliens wanted to do to their species…they were traitors, and as far as he was concerned, just as evil as the monsters they were fighting. Roman didn't know what would happen to the Prime Minister, but he hoped it was something suitable for the coward he was.

Maybe he should be stuck on the front lines, and see just what the aliens were doing there. Either way was a win. ADVENT got a soldier, or he would die. Roman didn't care either way, and it might redeem him in some way.

"Do you think they knew?" Stanislav questioned as they rounded street corners, the Legislature Building in the distance, looking very similar to the US Capitol Building. "Or did they really hide what the aliens were doing from them?"

Galina snorted. "If they showed that footage, and the people didn't immediately demand Canada join, I would be utterly shocked. I don't care what you think, if seeing…that….doesn't make you feel at least somewhat inclined to help, then you're an apathetic and selfish monster. So no, I don't think they knew."

"I never thought I would agree with this," Elena said quietly. "But ADVENT is justified here. It's one thing to think we're wrong, it's another to avoid the fight altogether and deny any help to the ones fighting. Even China knows the aliens are dangerous."

"And unlike Canada, they're actually preparing to fight," Konstantin nodded, a hard edge to his voice. Out of all of them, it was him that Roman felt was the most affected, surprisingly enough. Or maybe not, since Roman had known that several family members of his had disappeared nearly a year ago. It might have been aliens, or it might have been simple kidnap and murder.

Roman hoped it had been the latter. Being a captive of the aliens was a fate worse than death.

They were now on the steps of the Legislative Building, and the Edmonton officers silently nodded and stepped aside and let them approach the door. "Get this open," Roman ordered, and several Engineers approached, and pulled out laser torches, which cut through the hinges and locks within a few seconds. Working in tandem, Roman and his team got the doors open, and marched inside.

"We have a list of names," Roman told them after they reached the entrance. "Galina, Maksim, set up a processing checkpoint here. Everyone else, you are authorized to take any people within this building into custody. Bring them back here immediately and do not use unnecessary force, or you will be punished accordingly. If they attack you, you are allowed to subdue them, but there are no circumstances where you should have to kill them. These people are not soldiers, and don't have gauss weaponry. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Shieldbearer!" They shouted in unison.

"We clear this floor by floor," Roman stated, turned around and beginning to walk forward. "Disperse and find them!"

At the chorus of affirmation, the ADVENT soldiers began moving through the building, dismantling the last Canadian branch that stood in the way of victory. Some ballistic gunshots went off, and the shouts and furious words of the people within were nothing against the might of ADVENT as they arrested them, one by one.

And at the end, they raised the ADVENT flag above the Legislature Building, the city of Edmonton now under the control of ADVENT.

---

Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Canada

"The Prime Minister and the gathered senators are inside," Ethan informed Saudia as she walked up the steps of Parliament Hill, a place she'd been not too long ago. How things had changed.

Saudia had not been surprised in the least when the Prime Minister had ordered the police and Protective Service to stand down. A pacifist to the end, it seemed. ADVENT had quickly secured the city, and was now surrounding the building itself.

Stein stood beside her, several hundred Peacekeepers behind her, in her combat-ready armor, and one hand resting on her stun baton as she appraised the area before her. Saudia also wore an adapted version of ADVENT armor, since no one was going to let her go without some kind of protection, although she had the helmet tucked under her arm, since she found wearing it stifling.

"We are ready to move on your orders," Stein stated, glancing at Saudia. "I believe it is time to finish this."

"Agreed," Saudia nodded. "Begin as you will."

While Stein shouted orders, Saudia proceeded upward, where the Engineers had unlocked the doors, and opened them as she approached. The Peacekeepers marched inside, and immediately began arresting anyone they saw, and Saudia continued forward, Stein at her side as they made their way to the office of the Prime Minister.

ADVENT Intelligence had determined his most likely location, and it helped that Saudia had been here before, and had been sure to study the schematics well beforehand. "What are you going to do to him?" Stein asked as they walked. "There are several different options."

"An early retirement and a gag order will likely be sufficient," Saudia answered, as she had given some thought to this. "Murphy is not someone to be feared. If he is silenced, he will be forgotten about. I see no reason to push for the maximum penalty. The circumstances do not warrant it."

"Understood," Stein nodded. "Unfortunate though. The traitor deserved worse."

"There is going to be enough backlash to this, regardless of the footage," Saudia answered with a shrug. "Much as I would rather get rid of him for good, the circumstances and actions do not warrant execution or imprisonment, even if a case could be made for both."

"Fair," Stein said, looking back forward. "I'll be busy in the Middle East for the foreseeable future. And there are problems in South America that warrant some kind of response. It will be useful to not have to prosecute a former world leader as well."

Saudia flashed a small smile at that. "I do my best."

"Here we are," Ethan said, as they approached some double doors, the wood ornate and carved into various shapes. He reached over and opened it, and they stepped inside to see Prime Minister Murphy sitting calmly in his seat, looking not the least bit surprised to see them.

"Chancellor," he greeted calmly. "We meet again."

Saudia's face hardened. "I did warn you."

"So you did," he nodded. "I somehow believed you wouldn't cross the one red line the world wouldn't support. And yet you have. Masterfully handled, I must say."

"The red line for most is the sight of children being cut up on alien tables," Ethan spat, stepping forward. "And yet you lacked the conviction to even do that. History will not remember you well, Prime Minister."

"We have covered this topic before," Murphy dismissed Ethan's words with an absent wave. "I feel no need to repeat it. I do not regret my stance. Regardless of the crimes of the aliens, that does not change that I do not believe ADVENT has the best interests of Humanity in mind. It does not matter what you show, the immutable fact is that you have invaded and captured a country that had done no crime other than to peacefully oppose you."

"Except your peaceful opposition has hurt our efforts in America," Saudia countered. "Your refusal to cooperate in any way has cost countless lives. You might not understand it, but there is blood on your hands for that. I didn't want this, Prime Minister, but this is larger than your country, and especially you. If needed, I will annex the entire world if they oppose the destruction of the aliens."

"All you have accomplished today is a hollow victory," Murphy said calmly. "Today people have seen the brutality of ADVENT. You have gained many enemies, and now there will be those who will stand against you. Fear and terror cannot be sustained forever, and your little regime will collapse before your eyes. You are not the first tyrant who believed themselves justified, and you will pay the price one day."

Saudia was sorely tempted to punch him in the face. She wanted to very badly. As it stood, Ethan seemed to want to as well and took a step forward. "No." Stein said flatly, raising a hand, and Ethan stopped. "We have no need to listen to his words any longer."

She stepped forward, a pair of handcuffs at the ready. "By order of the Chancellor, you are under arrest, Prime Minister Murphy. You will be tried and sentenced. Please extend your hands."

Murphy stood, a slight smile on his lips. "Ah, Saudia's attack dog. I'm sure this is satisfying for you, Stein. No. I will not comply. If you want to arrest me, you will have to drag me out into the streets so the world can see how you treat your prisoners."

Saudia's own smile turned cold, and she imagined Stein had a similar one on her face. "You will not be a martyr, Prime Minister. You will be removed and the people will forget about you. Understand that the current plan for you is a simple forced retirement, and an order never to interfere in public matters. Lenient, all things considering. Resisting arrest would upgrade the charges to twenty years in prison." She tapped her armor. "All of this is being recorded. There will be no disputing the evidence. I ask you again, Prime Minister, please extend your hands."

Murphy shook his head. "No. I will not be intimidated."

Stein nodded, and turned to Saudia. "Let the record show repeated refusal to cooperate with law enforcement. Proceeding to subdue." She whipped out her stun baton and slammed it into the bottom of the Prime Minister's chin with a crack. The shock was set for the level just short of lethal, and he was knocked out almost instantly, falling down unceremoniously.

"Good riddance," Stein muttered, placing her baton back and she reached down and handcuffed the unconscious Prime Minister, then slung him over her shoulder. "Hope you enjoy your time in prison, Murphy. You and them will probably get along."

Saudia didn't feel too bad about the Prime Minister refusing to cooperate. Even when presented with no other options, he somehow still managed to make the wrong one.

Stein had summed it up well. Good riddance indeed.

There would be one less traitor to make her life more difficult, and hopefully this would send a strong warning to those who believed that they could sit out this war with no consequences. Canada had been the world's wake-up call.

Now it would be interesting to see who was paying attention.

---

The Praesidium, Barracks

Sierra felt she wasn't alone in feeling complete shock as the soldiers crowded around the TVs in the barracks, watching reporters announce, their own faces blank with shock, that ADVENT was actually annexing Canada. Sierra hadn't even known that was something they could do, at least legally. At the same time, she shouldn't have been surprised at that.

Sierra glanced at Liliyane and Jasmine, both of whom were blank masks as they watched. The Commander had apparently been gracious enough to let them know that ADVENT was going to take over their country, which she supposed was a point for him. Still, that meant that XCOM was definitely supporting this act.

And from the comments in the room, he wasn't alone.

"Well, I guess this will help us," the CT agent Timur said as news that Edmonton had been taken arrived. "Sounds like the Canadian military is supporting this."

Sierra gave him an incredulous look. "You say that like it's a fucking shock. They would be torn to pieces if they fought ADVENT."

"Didn't seem to deter the Middle East," Fakhr pointed out. "They had no chance and they still fought."

"There really isn't much that can be done about it," Liliyane sighed. "The Prime Minister made his choice; this ultimately comes down to the government acting like morons."

"Seriously," Matthew said, leaning back on the couch. "All they literally had to do was say, 'yeah, you can go through our country and get all the benefits of ADVENT protection without having to actually join'. Sorry to you and Jasmine, Lily, but they completely had this coming."

One of the North Koreans, Min-Su Song, stroked his beard thoughtfully. Sierra found it really weird to look at him; for some reason, beards just looked wrong on Asians. "I'm rather surprised the military put up with this Prime Minister's obvious incompetence for so long," he commented. "I suspect that had ADVENT not acted, there would have been a military coup in the future."

Sierra rolled her eyes. "The world doesn't follow Best Korea policies," she answered. "The point of loyalty is following your leaders even when you disagree."

"Is it though?" Oliver interjected, surprisingly. The older man looked rather tired as he spoke. "The Chancellor did have a point. Can anyone stand by in good conscience knowing that if ADVENT fails, we'll be treated like…" he gestured at the TV. "That? At what point are you complicit by neutrality? Look, even I'll be the first to admit one of the biggest problems of the UN was that it didn't do anything. They could have actually improved the world several times, but they held back for one reason or another. Right or wrong, the argument about not disturbing the sovereignty of a nation…it was valid."

He shook his head. "But even I don't think that is even a comparable thing. This isn't just about some superficial disagreement. This is about our entire species. Is it right for ADVENT to completely annex the country? Maybe, hell I'd say probably. But are they justified? I think so."

There was a chorus of agreement from the soldiers, and Oliver's word did have some weight here. He'd openly said he disliked some ADVENT policies, but if even he was thinking that this was acceptable, then that might make up the minds of some who were torn on the entire subject.

Like herself.

The footage had been horrific; completely and utterly brutal, and it made her want to kill some aliens right now. But she couldn't help but wonder if that was really the reason ADVENT was annexing Canada, or simply a convenient excuse to silence a vocal critic.

The problem Sierra had was that, regardless of the Prime Minister being a moron, annexation wasn't necessary. She could bet that after showing that footage, there would have been an uproar from the population, and they would have pressured the government to do something. Maybe not join ADVENT, but at least ally with them.

The majority of people, even Canadians, weren't anything like the Prime Minister. They wouldn't stand by quietly. That was literally all ADVENT had to do, and watch the people turn against him. True, it might not work, but Canada was genuinely a place where she felt where public pressure would have an impact.

Then again, she was a regular American woman with no idea how Canada actually worked, so she could be completely wrong. Still though, at worst all ADVENT had to do was just ignore whatever Canada had said and go through the country anyway. Really, what could they do about it? Help the aliens?

It would likely be a lot more acceptable than just taking over the country entirely. By doing it, ADVENT has removed whatever moral high ground they had over Canada, or anyone else for that matter. Sierra realized that it wasn't the specific act that was bugging her, but that the entire event was unnecessary. It didn't feel like anything more than ADVENT sending a message to the rest of the world which boiled down to 'Help us or we'll take you over.'

But Oliver did have a point. Could they really apply regular morality to a war where defeat meant death and worse?

She didn't know.

"I was in the Sectoid Hive," Carmelita suddenly said, absentmindedly sitting away from the majority of soldiers, fingers absentmindedly rapping on the table, a faraway look in her golden-rimmed eyes. "When we first took it, before we turned it into this…" she gestured around the room. "What they showed was only part of it. I saw the other archives the Sectoids kept. Meticulous bastards. It made me sick, some of the stuff they were doing. No matter what we as a species do, we will never come close to the aliens in sheer cruelty." She looked up at the rest of them, a hand curled into a fist. "Canada doesn't matter. Their reasons don't matter. I don't care if the coward Prime Minister was executed on live TV by ADVENT, if it leads to the complete and utter annihilation of the aliens, then it's completely justified. Traitors don't deserve anything, and ADVENT has every right to wipe them out. The Chancellor was correct. There is no middle ground here. There are either those who are willing to fight, or there are traitors."

There were murmurs of agreement, and although Sierra didn't exactly agree, she didn't think it was a good idea to bring up some counterpoints to that. Besides, Carmelita wasn't exactly the most objective person when it came to the aliens. Then again, if their positions were reversed, Sierra couldn't say she wouldn't be the same.

Sierra sank back into her chair as the discussion turned to something else. This was far more conflicting than it had any right to be. Maybe she just needed to sleep.

---

Forward Observation Station, Mars Orbit

Ravarian watched the four holographic screens showing various Human news stations reporting the latest developments. The voices and sounds all blended into one, and all were essentially saying the same thing. "Mute." He finally said.

ADVENT making a public address had been expected, and he had not expected that it would be anything more than a reassurance.

He had not expected Saudia to announce the annexation of Canada. Not now at least. Ravarian was well aware that ADVENT could annex countries if certain criteria were filled, but at the same time, he had wondered if they would actually go through with it.

His lips pressed into a hard line as he watched the soundless newscasters. He hoped that Battlemaster was happy. Imperator or not, they had had the perfect opportunity to at the very least subvert Canada, if not outright convert it, and they had done nothing.

A perfect opportunity wasted for no good reason.

With this ADVENT now controlled the nearly the entirety of North America, with the exception of the small amount of cities the Collective controlled in the United States, and now that ADVENT had Canada, they could come from the north and bypass some of their stronger fortifications. What was worse was that Canada was not a place they could easily take either without a significant increase of soldiers.

Japan had been an excellent victory, but there were no signs of ADVENT slowing down. They would infuriatingly adapt, and had shown surprising foresight by quickly evacuating Japan, and preserving the majority of their forces. Korea would be the next obvious target, and from a logistics standpoint, it was one of the only ones available.

The three main targets from Japan were Korea, China, and Russia. While China could probably be dealt with relatively easily, it would take a significant amount of time to do properly, and there was simply no way a country of over a billion Humans would be taken in a timely manner. And that was time ADVENT would use to get stronger, or worst case, use China as a proxy which would eat up Collective resources while their centers of operation were continually protected.

At the same time, China would have to be dealt with eventually, and the Chinese were just as focused on defeating them as ADVENT, even if they clearly disliked their global neighbors. Infiltration was nearly impossible, at least anywhere effective. Their authoritarian regime was being utilized to its fullest effect, and Ravarian knew that after the first proper battle with China, they would immediately begin attempting to reverse-engineer their technology, or worst case, accidentally awaken psions.

Were China actively attempting to sabotage ADVENT, that might be beneficial to pit them against each other.

The problem was that they weren't.

Hence, they were a potential problem in the future, but not necessarily one that needed to be dealt with right away.

Korea was going to be a complete warzone at the very least, and probably much worse than Japan had been. Unlike Japan, Korea was on an actual continent, and it could easily be supplied and reinforced, and reports from the Zararch indicated that the defenses gradually became more and more secure up until the border between North and South Korea.

No matter how he looked at it, Korea had the potential to be fought to a stalemate, even assuming ADVENT wasn't trying to learn from their mistakes. Defenders always had the advantage, but the sheer amount of firepower in the country, as a consequence of both of them preparing for a war against each other, was not something that could be ignored.

The coast would likely be breached easy enough, but Seoul was going to be a nightmare to beat without Ethereal support. Which he supposed the Battlemaster would be more than willing to provide. But in theory it could hold out against their forces indefinitely. It depended on how much the Battlemaster wanted to devote to the conflict compared to other areas.

That wasn't even considering North Korea.

Ravarian grew mildly annoyed at that. There was almost no information on it, but based on the previous North Korean army, which was clearly the basis for the base ADVENT soldier, they appeared far more advanced than South Korea, and he knew that Gwan had made a point to prepare for their invasion. Ravarian didn't know who'd been the fool who'd ordered an attempted abduction in the country, but it had allowed the North Koreans to accelerate their research significantly after they captured it.

The unknown was the greatest risk here, and he was not expecting it to be an easy conquest without significant support. They couldn't rely on Caelior or the Creator's pets every time. And right now, Collective forces were displaying their weaknesses every time they fought, and just as the Humans were adapting, they needed to as well.

Russia he dismissed for the time being. Their strategy was going to need to change in the coming months. Winter was coming, and if there was one thing he had learned from Human history, it was that there were certain regions that should not be fought in during that time. Granted, that was for Humans, but Ravarian wasn't confident that his soldiers would fare much better.

Mutons could survive in almost any environment, but performance was more important than simple survival, and they would suffer. Berserkers would be severely neutered in snow. Most Vitakara would perform at Human levels or slightly better, with the exception of Borelians and the Oyariah, although even the latter was questionable. Chryssalids would have the same problem as Berserkers, and Andromedons would perform depending on how bad the weather was. Even still, their performance would be reduced.

The cold would also affect the vehicles, mostly because Cyberdisks, drones, and Sectopods had the slight issue of their joints locking in cold conditions, which was a design flaw the Sectoids had never bothered to correct since they rarely, if ever, fought in the cold. There were no seasons anymore on Helion-7, so it was likely that reality had never entered their minds. Since they were still being ravaged by the cursed XCOM bioweapon, they would be too distracted to upgrade their mechanical units.

That took Canada and Russia off the table in the short term, which meant the focus of the war should turn to the southern hemisphere. America could still be fought over, and they would have to begin targeting South America and Africa, the latter of which ADVENT was ignoring entirely. If they worked to build their influence in those regions in the winter months, they would be in excellent position to pen ADVENT in when spring came and the cold abated.

Provided there were no more questionable orders, like leaving Africa alone for some arbitrary reason.

Ravarian waved the haptic display off, and turned to leave. He sincerely hoped the Battlemaster and Imperator had learned their lesson here. ADVENT was taking this seriously, and contrary to what certain Ethereals seemed to believe, they should as well.

Speaking of which, he should have Quisilia check on Nartha. He'd been on Vitakar enough to do whatever he wanted. It was time to move him to Desolan next, since he had suspicions as to the level of dissent there.

If Quisilia wanted to use Nartha, use him they would. He sincerely hoped this wouldn't turn out to be a mistake. Nartha wasn't an idiot, and if they were too obvious, he would put the pieces together and…well, Quisilia would kill him.

So perhaps they were safer than he thought.

Still, never hurt to lessen the risk.

---

Riyadh Garrison, Saudi Arabia

Betos had to admit that the Chancellor knew how to handle a situation. Prior to this, she didn't believe that it could be possible to make the indisputable invasion of a peaceful country seem reasonable…but the images of some of the monstrous things that aliens were supposedly doing were the most effective way to illustrate the threat.

She had almost been convinced to ignore the entire event, because it seemed rather small in the face of the alien brutality. Until Mox had wondered if the footage was even real.

She sat at her desk, a blank piece of paper in front of her. It was what she was going to say, and she didn't know where to start, or if she should just throw it into the trash and try to do her best here. But now that Mox had put the possibility in her head, she couldn't just ignore it. She hated how much she was reminding herself of those idiotic conspiracy theorists who liked talking about how Israel was secretly running the world.

The thing was, she had seen what was probably the darkest side of ADVENT, and she could see the higher-ups agreeing that something like this might be justified. There were several question to ask.

Would ADVENT be willing to stage the alien experiments? Yes, if the way they handled the Middle East was any indication. Their only justification was that no one could (or should) remain neutral in the war, and they would do whatever they deemed necessary to lessen the public outcry. Second question:

Did ADVENT have the resources to stage it? Undoubtedly. Betos suspected that if this was staged, then it probably had been done long ago, and they were saving even more for situations like this. No better way to cover up your crimes than showing 'evidence' that no matter how bad it was, the aliens were much worse, and therefore it was ok.

It boiled down to the simple fact that she didn't trust ADVENT. The soldiers were just doing their jobs, they weren't who she had issues with. It was the leadership and government. The Chancellor, her cabinet, and the Commander who seemed to have a disturbing amount of influence over ADVENT in general, not just military strategy. Something was off with XCOM, but that was a completely separate issue.

But true or false, it had at least made her see the situation in a less emotional light. ADVENT had ultimately invaded a country that had done nothing against them except be uncooperative. Was it idiotic? Yes. Was it wrong? Not to her. The thing was that there were some things that were either immutable or they were not.

ADVENT supposedly respected the sovereignty of independent nations. But apparently only to a certain point. That wasn't acceptable to her. You either respected nations peacefully staying out of it, or you did not. ADVENT couldn't play both sides here, much as some people were arguing that 'here they were justified'. That was debatable, but now ADVENT had opened up the door to doing it anywhere.

Saudia had painted a clear line in the sand, and the insinuation had been clear: You are with ADVENT, or you are a traitor. Following that line of logic, ADVENT could target any non-ADVENT nation based on that alone. How long until China was targeted? Argentina? Hell, any of the remaining EU nations? ADVENT wouldn't need manipulative footage, fake or not, in the future.

What was really concerning was that it was going to be all too easy for this to become commonplace. Betos was convinced this was only the beginning. It would be shocking now, but after it happened four or five times, people would simply stop caring. Easier to not think on if the ones in power were really doing the right thing or not.

Far as she could tell, it was already becoming commonplace. The methods used by the SSR; the riots put down by Peacekeepers; now annexation. There was only so much she personally could justify in the name of security and for the greater good. At some point those were just excuses; ones that conveniently hid the true motives.

She did agree with Saudia when she'd said the famous line where evil only continued to exist when good men did nothing. Was ADVENT evil?

She didn't know. She really didn't.

It was scarily possible that Saudia and the Commander genuinely thought every action they were taking was completely justified. It was entirely possible that this wasn't done out of selfishness or power, but it was done out of fear. The impression that she'd gotten from the Commander was that he'd been skeptical of the ability of Humanity to govern itself.

That's really what it felt like, now that she'd thought of it. ADVENT had given up on Humanity, and it was going to force it to become what they believed their species should be. She'd certainly seen some of the worst of Humanity, but also the overwhelming good that could be done when Humans came together. She wondered if the Commander and Saudia had spent too long focusing on the problems, and had forgotten that the majority of people were ultimately good and just trying to live their lives.

Maybe ADVENT wasn't evil. Not quite. But it was going down that path. How long would it be until ADVENT was performing similar acts on aliens or even Humans, while declaring it was necessary and that it was justice for their crimes of opposing ADVENT? It was easy to justify villainous actions if the victim was not worth defending.

No one was going to protest the rights of an alien or criminal, else they would be branded sympathizers or worse. It was insidious dehumanization, or dealienization, whatever the alien equivalent was. The most disturbing thing about ADVENT, was that they knew what they were doing. For better or worse, they understood how to manipulate the masses. They knew how to justify their actions.

And they might even genuinely believe they were in the right.

Maybe they were.

Perhaps she was the one who was wrong.

Then again, the question had to be raised: What good was it, if in defeating the aliens, humanity ended up becoming just like them?

Then they had substituted one form of slavery for another. And no one would be left to point that out.

She had often wondered if the men and women of the horrific regimes like the Nazis and USSR had encountered a similar crossroads. They had seen the beginning, and perhaps the slow declination of the government into tyranny and genocide. But they stayed in the end, maybe because they felt they had to, or because they felt they could be one of the 'good ones'. And ultimately, by the time they realized they were complicit and nothing could be changed, it was too late.

She had a choice now: Stay, and bear responsibility for whatever came next, good or ill, or refuse to be a part of it any longer.

She picked up her pen and began writing.

---

The Praesidium, Engineering Bay

Nuan picked up her pencil, and tried once more to write on the notepad she'd brought with her.

[Arri, ye whw retuse tw be slavss]

[Wltf ouf filsh and blwd, let us boild a graat wail!]

Nuan scowled and rested her head back against the cool steel wall, resisting the urge to snap the pencil in two. The doctors had told her that it would take some time for her to regain enough motor control of her new prosthetics to write properly, but it was maddening that she could hardly put together even a remotely coherent sentence.

She grimaced as she looked through the lines above the ones she'd just written. It was sloppy and…illegible. She knew how to write, but her hands were not cooperating with her. There was some marginal progress as she saw where she'd started at the beginning, but the characters were still mostly wrong.

She punched the wall in a flash of anger, the bang lost in the crowd of sounds in the Engineering Bay. Didn't do anything, but it made her feel slightly better, because it seemed that was all the prosthetics were good for. At least she didn't have to worry about hurting her hand anymore. She looked down at the prosthetics, still finding the feeling somewhat surreal that this actually happened to her.

They were skeletal in a way, dark gray steel and the inner workings protected by sheaths of metal, but the joints exposed enough to perform every motion of the hand. She didn't think that it was fully synched up to her brain either, because she'd try and do some motion, and it would either do it partway, or something else.

The first few times it had happened, it had nearly freaked her out that a part of her body wasn't responding to her commands. The helpless feeling was almost as bad as when she'd woken up with no arms. Now she had arms, and sometimes they wouldn't do what she wanted. What was truly bizarre, and what took some getting used to was that her arms were now metal and wires.

There were maintenance panels on her wrist, and it was fascinating in a morbid way for her to open up part of her arm, and look inside. Even stranger that she could sort of poke around inside and not feel a thing. The arms hadn't been calibrated for pain, which she appreciated, but they could still detect differing temperatures and pressure.

Though even that was iffy. The prosthetics were much stronger than regular flesh and blood, and she'd unwittingly broken a few glasses and pencils by exerting too much pressure. She was keeping Human contact to a minimum until she was reasonably sure she wouldn't accidentally hurt someone. At least she could punch things with impunity.

Well, mostly. It wasn't recommended, but the doctor had insinuated that it helped people deal a little bit with the inevitable frustration. In moderation, of course. And not on people.

Ironically, she could still shoot a gun reasonably well, and suspected that was one motion they had been sure to hardcode in, or whatever; she wasn't a prosthetics expert. But it would make sense that they would want to get her back in the fight quickly. The guns probably wouldn't be crushed in her grip either, so that was a plus.

But she was really uncomfortable with fighting at the moment, since she didn't completely feel in control of her arms yet. She'd get there, but she didn't know how long that would take.

Still, she wasn't going to sit around doing nothing. Thus, she was here. Sitting on the floor against one of the walls in the Engineering bay, the notepad on her legs as she tried to learn how to write again. It made her feel a little less embarrassed to do this where there weren't other people watching.

It was difficult to concentrate much as well, since she was torn between a kind of fear and satisfaction. The Canadian Prime Minister had completely deserved to be deposed for his backwards opinions and outdated ideologies, and seeing him being hauled out had given her a strong feeling of justice. Saudia was right that anyone who wasn't helping fight the alien threat- who didn't have to be with ADVENT – was a traitor. That she could agree with wholeheartedly. Especially after the footage of the Sectoids experimenting on people.

It made the Praesidium a lot more menacing now, knowing that this was where such acts had taken place.

Yet at the same time, ADVENT had actually annexed a country.

China could be next, and that scared her. She couldn't know if people on either side would understand that would be an unbelievably bad idea. She was expecting orders within hours demanding to know if she had known anything like that was coming. They were going to be freaked out, and rightfully so.

To the best of her knowledge almost no one had known this was even being considered, which meant that if China ever made ADVENT angry for some reason, they could strike without warning. And Nuan believed it wouldn't be with a fucking press conference, but likely similar to how Pakistan was taken. No warning, no mercy, and no chance to stop it.

That ADVENT was going to get their own psionic program was cause for enough concern, but China was going to have to make some serious decisions in the future. She wasn't appraised of the current technological level of the Chinese military, but last she checked, they were nowhere near ADVENT, and probably would remain that way until they made a deal with ADVENT or the aliens attacked the mainland.

The alien dreadnought they had would probably help with some developments, but it was nowhere near what was needed.

She took a deep breath. She was probably exaggerating. China wasn't run by emotional people, they would handle this with level heads. They'd made it this far, they would endure like they always had, regardless of how much more powerful ADVENT was now.

Nuan unconsciously rubbed her forehead, and flinched when the metal fingers touched her head. She still wasn't used to that. It felt like someone else touching her, even when it wasn't. These prosthetics were going to take some getting used to, but she wasn't convinced that everything about them would become normal.

But it was far better than having no hands at all.

---

Undisclosed Location, Argentina

Konstantine Volikov sat alone in his armored fortress, the unofficial headquarters of his little band of survivalists, or terrorists, depending on who you talked to. Technically this was one of many outposts they'd built across the country, but he'd stayed at this one long enough to think of it as almost a home.

He found it rather quaint, and exactly how he liked it. Minimal distractions, well-hidden, and well-stocked.

He shut off the TV in disgust, not exactly for what was on the screen, but because he knew he was distracting himself from something far, far worse. He glanced over to where the dreaded things lay on the collapsible plastic table, as undisturbed as when Elena had set them down and strode off without a word.

No point in procrastinating any longer. The damn report wasn't going anywhere, and there was no way he was subjecting his clients to reading twenty pages of complete and utter boredom. He stood and walked over to the table and grabbed the report, and threw himself back into the chair, already preparing himself for the worst.

He opened the page with some trepidation, and sighed as his worst fears were confirmed.

4:15: Team arrives on site and begins immediate preparations. Jason comments on the weather.

4:17: Rifle assembly delayed due to improper packing of equipment. Expected time delayed by twenty seconds, mission time delayed by same amount of time.

4:18: Faraday makes derogatory comment towards ADVENT Peacekeeper forces.

He loved Elena, but she was without a doubt the worst person to write a report he could even conceive of. He was going to have to read twenty pages of completely useless information and hopefully pull out stuff that he actually cared about. At the same time, she was by far the smartest one of them all, and it took her only a few hours to put together one of these. Times like these having a perfect memory would be extremely useful.

Anytime he brought that topic up though, she never answered. Maybe she didn't know either.

As he continued the mind-numbing slog, he reflected on what he did know. The attack on the Peacekeeper forces had gone exactly as expected, and the casualties had been much higher than he'd hoped. That being said, it was only a matter of time before ADVENT actually started deploying some forces against them.

He smiled at the thought; his lips set in a grim line.

He wished them luck with that.

There was a reason he'd been sought out by the Argentineans, and their unofficial alliance with several other South American countries. When it came to survival, there was no one better than Volk, the Grim Reaper himself. How he'd gotten the label, he still didn't know, although it might have had something to do with how everyone sent to kill him ended up dead.

Still, it wasn't something he particularly sought out. Until now, at least. He would have been content to stay in one place, living off the land in peace. Unfortunately, he knew a bit too much for certain people to let him go. Savvin didn't like people asking questions, and it was only after fleeing to Alaska and killing the CT Squad sent after him that he'd let him settle down peacefully.

And so he'd lived in Alaska for quite a few years, until some mysterious assassins had tried to kill him again, and this time he didn't know if they had been sent from Russia, or the United States. From what he'd learned, the US hadn't exactly been happy that he'd taken up residence in their country. Their loss, and so he'd finally decided to do something.

If no one was going to let him live in peace, he'd make their lives a living hell. So he started what he simply called a survivalist group, a cover that allowed him to train operatives; operatives that would be capable of getting certain political dissidents out of dangerous situations. China, Russia, Africa; all these places were havens for corruption and oppression.

He'd established contacts, and soon his name had gotten around as someone who could extradite people on the run from oppressive regimes. Sometimes he went himself, most of the time he sent his operatives to extract people and bring them back to his little hideout. Very often they weren't anyone important, low ranking military or intelligence; journalists, very rarely was it anyone with any sort of actual power.

Not that it mattered to him. He wasn't in it for the money, even though there were quite a few organizations (usually those who came to him with job offers) who paid him, anonymously of course. And generally not in something worthless like the paper they used so often, but currency he could use. Weapons, food, supplies.

It was an arrangement he quite liked.

He knew he was bound to get the attention of someone important sooner or later, but had not imagined it would be ADVENT, who had sprung up out of nowhere, and within a few days of seeing them at work, he'd gotten the hell out of the United States, and to the next best place which wasn't a sudden ADVENT member state: Argentina.

From there he'd tried to appraise the situation. The aliens had certainly been a surprise, but had been something on the horizon; something that didn't affect his actual work. He was more focused on making sure the people were alive, before figuring out what to do next. It had become very clear that ADVENT was going to bring in a dark age for political oppression.

Had he been a heartless CEO who only cared about profits, ADVENT could have translated to more business for him, but ADVENT only made him worried. Even after a quick few days of investigation, he'd learned that ADVENT was not like the incompetent dictatorships he was used to dealing with. It was dangerous just how competent everyone seemed to be. It was completely bizarre. No one was ever putting people like this in charge.

Typically, Volk saw several different kinds of governments; ones with smart people, but bad systems; ones with good systems, but idiot leaders; and of course, ones with bad systems and idiot leaders. He had never seen what he would call a competent government, but then again, he'd worked against the worst of the worst.

The smart ones he'd never had any need to investigate. Until now.

Then in a strange twist of fate, the Argentinian government had made tentative contact, and asked to talk. He'd suspected a trap, of course, and had taken appropriate precautions. But they actually kept their word, and had a very interesting chat. As he'd wondered, they were worried about ADVENT expanding and taking them over, and Brazil especially was in the hands of a war-mongering tyrant, posing another threat.

He could see their problem.

Now they of course couldn't deter ADVENT, but they could distract them, which was where Volk and his people came in. Terrorism might have been a deterrent to some, but considering the target, Volk personally had no problem with it. When the Peacekeepers had opened fire on the protesting crowds, that had solidified his path.

And now ADVENT was indeed taking over countries they didn't like. Wouldn't be too long before they turned their attention to South America. The goal wasn't to destroy ADVENT, he wasn't delusional, but to make their occupation too costly to consider expanding. Of course Argentina couldn't be connected to them, and this was all unofficial, else ADVENT would consider that reason to invade.

But he was a completely independent force. ADVENT didn't know anything about him yet, and he intended to keep it that way.

He shook his head as he kept marking down actual relevant stuff from Elena's report. The whole Canadian situation was one of the most manipulative pieces of propaganda he'd ever seen. Well handled, which again showed he was dealing with actual smart people, and the masses were going to completely buy it, and the media would fawn over the Chancellor's words like the gullible sheep they were, or at least until their ratings went down and realized bashing her was more profitable.

Volk didn't know if the footage they showed was real or fake. It really didn't matter. Wow. Shocking that the aliens were experimenting on Humans. Completely unexpected. Volk sniffed at the hypocrisy. If ADVENT wasn't experimenting on Humans themselves, or aliens for that matter, in just as horrific and brutal ways, he wouldn't just eat the headscarf around his head, he'd eat his damn uniform.

That this was shocking to anyone was a sad state of affairs. That was what people in power did, while at the same time using similar tactics to vilify their enemies. He'd known Russia had done Human experimentation, China had done it, and the United States had done it. There was no way ADVENT wasn't doing it either. And especially on aliens, but Volk felt that if they had shown one of the Mutons getting a similar treatment, there would be people cheering for it.

Because aliens weren't people, after all.

Volk didn't care one way or another about the aliens anymore. No matter what narrative ADVENT wanted to push, they weren't any better or worse than humans and as far as Volk was concerned, they were just as much a threat to the people as the aliens themselves. For all he knew, the aliens actually weren't the completely evil puppy-kicking monsters they said. At this point he was considering everything they were saying as propaganda; they could say the sky was blue and he'd look out to actually check.

His life certainly wasn't boring.

But now he had a mission to complete: Ruin ADVENT in South America. A challenging task, but he had several plans, which would hopefully culminate in the assassination of the bitch Luana herself. He might actually take the shot himself instead of assigning it to Elena.

It would depend on how he was feeling that day.

They were in his environment now, and guerilla warfare was one the ADVENT military was ill-prepared for. He knew the forest, he and his people could survive for weeks with nothing, and they couldn't. He was looking forward to when the game actually began.

The door creaked open, and he looked up to see Elena walk through, her Vektor rifle slung over her shoulder and mask hooked to her belt. The hood of her trench coat was down, and she didn't waste time taking off the mix of armor and cloth to get into something more comfortable. Everything had gone well then. If it hadn't she would have said something.

Elena Dragunova, the woman who was ironically the reason all of this had started. No matter what happened, he would never forgive the Russian government for meddling in her life, and he was quite certain they would have terminated her had he not figured out the reason she was always different.

It had been a longstanding question he'd wondered. If the Russians actually wanted to kill him and be done with it, or get their guinea pig back as well.

He unconsciously stiffened just thinking about it. Over his dead body.

Although that had almost happened a few times.

Still, she'd been with him from the beginning, and had been the reason they'd managed to survive the first years. It had almost been unsettling how Elena had been able to predict where and when they might be attacked based on contingencies and plans she'd only seen once, five years ago. It also helped that it was impossible to lie to her, and she'd saved him more than once from disguised assassins or infiltrators.

In some ways, she reminded him of a computer. A perfect memory, efficient, and dangerous. She was nearly as good as him with a Vektor rifle, and much better at close-quarters fighting. Despite how she was the most boring writer for AA reports, she was the person you wanted to lead the operation itself, because everything was accounted for.

He scribbled some notes down and stood. He could finish this up later. "Did you find anything unusual?" He asked her, as she finished hanging up her trench coat and taking off her boots.

"Negative," she answered immediately, not pausing. "ADVENT Peacekeeping forces are reacting within expected contingencies. According to information provided to us by Argentina, it is likely that after a maximum to two additional attacks of similar scale and death toll, they will request additional assistance from ADVENT Intelligence or State Special Response forces."

Volk nodded. Expected. Of the two, Intelligence was more dangerous than the SSR. SSR agents were little more than Peacekeeper special forces, and lacked any subtlety whatsoever. Easily dealt with, and their helmets were likely similarly weak to headshots. Hopefully. "Good. I think you've earned a break. Besides, I want you with me when we meet with our contact."

She carefully placed her boots under her trench coat, and after giving everything a quick look over, she looked back up to him and smiled for the first time. He still hadn't figured out what randomly prompted that. There were patterns to everything she did, yet there were moments when she acted completely normal when she saw someone she cared about. "At what time?"

He smiled in return, and motioned to her head. After a second, she tilted it and he straightened a wisp of loose hair, pushing it behind her ear. "Eight o'clock, two days from now. I think in the meantime I'll look over the identified potential recruits."

"If you are interested, I identified several more," Elena suddenly said, turning away and quickly striding to get a notepad which she immediately began scribbling on. "I have yet to identify closing factors to solidify potential recruitment, but their age, ethnicity, economic status, and identified political affiliations warrant further attention."

She handed him the quickly written notes, of which there were names, locations, and other pieces of information that would make his job much easier. Leave it to her to remember the little facts like that. "I never have to tell you what to do, do I?"

"No," she answered as if it was a question, and tilting her forehead towards him. "You taught me to always be vigilant."

He leaned in and kissed her on the forehead, pulling her close, which she allowed. "And you learned it well." He let her go after a few seconds, and she glanced expectantly up at him.

"Are you finished for tonight?" She asked, and he inwardly sighed. No, not quite, but he didn't want her to stay up waiting for him. Unfortunately, it was impossible to lie to her, and he knew there was zero chance of convincing her that it was alright to sleep. It was just something she did that he'd given up on her stopping.

"Almost," he said. "It won't be long."

She nodded and went to sit at the foot of their bed, while he went back to his chair and resumed noting down relevant stuff from her report. He wondered how she resisted becoming bored, because he would sometimes stay up for hours until his job was done, and she'd still be waiting in the same place, with the same expression, never once expressing annoyance.

He wondered if at some point she just flipped through books, committing them to memory and going back through them at points like this. He wasn't even sure that was how it worked; something to ask a neurologist should he ever meet one.

Still, he wouldn't keep her waiting too long.

He finally was satisfied with his notes; he'd type up a short one-page condensed report tomorrow morning and send it with one of his operatives. He really considered charging extra for the hassle of going through all of this, but they wanted reports, and reports he would write. He did write them extremely passive-aggressively as a form of revenge though.

Done, he shut off the lamp by his chair, and went to the bed, and on cue, Elena looked up and laid out on the bed, and he finally laid down beside her. No sooner had he hit the final lights was she snuggled up against him like always, and both of them fell into a peaceful sleep.

---

Riyadh Garrison, Saudi Arabia

Betos stood in full armor, Mox behind her as she looked out into the assembled soldiers, all of whom were similarly in full armor, although they didn't know for what. She'd just ordered a general assembly, quite possibly the last order she would ever give.

There was the very real possibility that there wouldn't be enough soldiers who agreed, and they might try and stop her. But if that was the case, then so be it. At the very least it would let people know that they were not a monolith of unthinking drones who followed orders as if by inherent programming.

Still, out of all the combat operations she'd been in, this was the riskiest thing she'd ever done in her life. She waved to the soldiers. "Helmets off if you wish, this isn't formal." She had her own tucked under her arm, and there was a symphony or rustles, hisses of air, and clicks as many of the soldiers followed suit.

She surveyed the crowd, seeing the men and women who she'd commanded over the past few months. There weren't any that she would personally say were bad people, they were the people that ADVENT needed, but from what she'd seen, the ones with her were the exception, not the rule. She'd probably had something to do with that as well.

"By now you've probably heard the news of ADVENT ordering the annexation of Canada," she began. "I've also assumed you've seen the video of the human experimentation they used to justify their invasion. I think there is no question that the aliens have performed horrific acts, and those are likely not the worst they are capable of."

She paused. A speechmaker, she was not, but she could only do her best. "But this is not unique to just the aliens. If one thing has become apparent to me, it is that all organizations and armies have their own dark secrets. It doesn't matter the nation or person, but on some level, everyone knows the difference between right and wrong, else they would not try so hard to hide their crimes."

Betos started pacing before them, having their attention as her address was not going how they expected. "All of us are soldiers. I was from Israel. Were there things my government was complicit in that were illegal? Very likely. I would challenge you to find a government that is not hypocritical in some way. But we're all soldiers, we serve because ultimately, we believe they earned our loyalty, and we believe they are fighting for the greater good. We don't have to worry about if we are on the right side or not, or question what we are doing, largely because we are not ordered to go against our internal sense of right and wrong."

Betos stopped, and looked at the crowd, from left to right. "When the abuses are hidden, they can be ignored. We can go about our day ignorant, and that is how we rationalize it to ourselves, even though in some way, we suspect we are complicit in their actions by simply being loyal to them. But the question that I have been considering is what to do when the abuses are no longer hidden, but simply ordered and allowed."

She shook her head. "ADVENT has allowed and ordered actions that I cannot support anymore. Their annexation of an independent nation, regardless of excuse, is something that cannot be ignored by me any longer. It is another in the list of abuse that has only become more apparent to me throughout our war in the Middle East."

There was quiet muttering in the crowd now, but they were raptly focused on her. "We've been ordered to execute governments without capture or trial; we've been ordered to fire on civilian targets; we kill hostages to stop terrorists. All of this is done in the name of security and order. But at some point we can't just ignore it any longer. ADVENT will not change, and for better or worse, their colors are on full display."

She hesitated. "You can argue that it's justified; that if such measures are not taken, we will die to the aliens. Perhaps, perhaps not. There is no way to know for sure. But I do know that ADVENT has taken the easiest path here, not necessarily the best. It is easier to kill than capture; it is easier to make war than peace; it is easier to command through fear than hope. It is a question of what humanity is to become."

Her voice lowered. "I do not see a viable future for Humanity under ADVENT. I see an indisputable regime under the guise of freedom. The leaders of ADVENT are smart, they do not make the mistakes others do. Do they do it for the right reason? That I cannot say. But are they the best ones to lead humanity? No, that I do not believe anymore."

"Every single one of us must make a choice here," Betos continued. "Hiding behind the word orders is that of a coward. We are not programmed machines, we are beings of free will. There is no ambiguity that can be ignored. We either support ADVENT, or we do not. Ignorance is no longer valid, there can be no excuses. I do not support ADVENT, and will not be complicit in their actions any longer."

Now people began muttering, forming a low rumble in the crowd. "I will leave today," Betos said over the noise. "I have no doubt I'll be considered a traitor, but that is something I'm willing to accept. But doing nothing is something I cannot do anymore, and I know I am not the only one who has had doubts about ADVENT. But action must be taken now before it is too late. So those that wish to follow me, you may do so."

She paused as the crowd quieted down. "And if some of you feel compelled to stop me, then that is your right. But my choice is made. It is now time to make yours."

She put on her helmet and walked forward, and the crowd of soldiers became silent and parted before her. Mox was right behind her, and there were no signs of anyone stopping her. A good sign, she supposed, which meant she at least might get out of here alive. Then a soldier stepped behind her and began following, then another, and soon it was a wave of soldiers at her back as she headed towards the compound exit.

Betos glanced back, and saw that there were a few staying in place, but they were making no effort whatsoever to stop the throng of soldiers leaving. At the edge, the two perimeter guards came up to her. Her announcement had been broadcast to the base, so they knew what was going on. But it appeared they did not intend to leave.

Betos raised a hand and the soldiers behind her stopped, as she faced the guards. "Are you going to stop me?"

There was a tense moment of silence. "We are technically not under orders to bring you in," he said. "But I am obligated to report this at the next interval, which I believe, is in two hours. Unless of course the antenna was damaged."

Betos had a sad smile under her helmet. "Thank you. And I understand."

He nodded his head. "I'd leave as soon as you could. The Peacekeepers are not as lenient as we are. I doubt this will be allowed to be repeated."

Betos gave a single nod of acknowledgement. "No, it will not."

"Good luck, Marshal," he said, stepping aside. "But don't forget who the real enemy is, and no matter what you believe, it is not ADVENT."

Betos didn't answer, but motioned for the soldiers behind her to load up in the Humvees and helicopters on-base. It was going to be a good while before they arrived at their destination. "I hope your friends are ready for us," she told Mox beside her. "I didn't think so many would join me."

"I think they'll be rather happy," Mox said. "And if they don't have room, well, they'll make some."

"I hope you're right about this," Betos said quietly. "I'm not a diplomat."

"You convinced several thousand soldiers to leave," Mox chuckled. "Getting a few African countries to work together should be simple."

"I guess we'll find out." Betos said as the sun set in the distance.

Next stop: Africa.

---

END OF ACT I

---

A/N: And so Act I ends, and I'm rather happy with how it turned out. I admittedly did not expect it to be quite this long, but it was needed and sets up things nicely going forward. So now that this is something of a break, I think I'll write something up on what exactly my plan is for this going forward.

I've kept sort of a running percentage completion on my profile, and anyone who'se looked at it sees that it's about 16% or so complete. At this point I'm planning at least seven acts for the Advent Directive, and how long each of those acts lasts will vary. It's also entirely possible I'll add another one later on if I think it needs it. The short version is don't expect this to be finished anytime soon, and I do have every intention of finishing it, one way or another. Without giving too much away, there is a lot of stuff going to happen in Act II.

The Reapers and Skirmishers (Who are not yet going by those names) are going to play a big role going forward, and Betos especially is going to have an extremely hard road ahead of her, as ADVENT isn't going to take her desertion lightly. The annexation of Canada is going to have lasting repercussions, and there is going to be a focus on the situations in other regions, especially in South America and Africa. ADVENT of course is going to keep doing what it's doing, but it's not going to be as easy going forward, as the aliens are going to actually try and be subtle. Or at least, more than they are.

And speaking of the aliens, more stuff with Nartha is actually coming, a lot more Ethereals are going to be introduced, and the Hunter and Assassin will make their debut relatively soon, though there will obviously be some different things from the expansion. Speaking of which, I'm not doing some of the more questionable things like the way the Chosen don't die, the Lost, and I still haven't decided if I'm going to actually put in the Templar psi-blades or not. Oh, and Geist will be showing up too.

And if any of you were unaware, I'm also writing a supplementary codex-like series that expands on quite a few topics, people, and units discussed in the story, and is usually updated after each chapter is posted with three or so files. It's linked in my profile as for those interested. You get to see Quisilia be snarky sometimes, so that may be incentive enough for some of you. Aliens and the Internet II will also be written sometime before Act II is finished, and maybe another file in a similar vein.

Thanks again to everyone reading this and providing their feedback. I plan for it to only get better from here.

- Xabiar