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.

19. Preparing the Future

Preparing the Future

---

Residence of the Chancellor, Switzerland

Saudia just needed to rest. Being the Director of EXALT had been an exhausting amount of work, but being the Chancellor was somehow more strenuous than that. And while she welcomed it to an extent, they were actually changing the world after all, there were some days where everything threatened to become overwhelming.

And today was one of those days.

The designated home of the Chancellor was very luxurious, and she'd ordered it to be designed as somewhat reminiscent of the Bastion, with the carpets, chandeliers in a red and gold color scheme. It had some familiarity compared to being far away from what had been her home for decades. It was a little overly large for her tastes, especially since the extra space wasn't used much, but right now she didn't care.

It occurred to her, as she opened the door, that she really hadn't spent that much time here to begin with. Unsurprising in retrospect, since she got the majority of her sleep on planes, convoys, or just sleeping on couches in her office. Vacation was not something she was expecting to take anytime soon.

"Set up the usual perimeter," she ordered her guard, not needing them to follow her inside. They nodded and began taking positions as she stepped inside. At least Ethan wasn't on guard tonight, but he'd probably spent most of the day plotting out the guard rotations for her packed schedule of the next week.

That would have been enough of an ordeal, but the recent events had given her a lot more to be concerned about. Aside from the ever-present alien threat, which could strike from anywhere at any time, she now had to deal with the upcoming fallout from Canada, to some extent the Middle East, and now this desertion of soldiers.

Just thinking about the utter stupidity of pulling a stunt like that now was infuriating.

Unfortunately, she wasn't sure it was wise to start a war with Africa to ensure that each and every one of those traitors was captured and executed. There were too many other, and somehow larger, concerns to deal with. The traitors could be obscured and their actions mitigated. It was the more visible issues that were pressing.

When those were dealt with, then the traitors could be dealt with.

"If you just want to go straight to bed, I won't blame you," Ethan said, walking in, dressed in a very casual gray shirt and shorts. He tossed the tablet in his hand onto a nearby couch once he saw her. "Or you could go and shoot some targets. I know I'd want to."

"What the fuck were they thinking?" Saudia growled, finally feeling free enough to speak her mind. "Do they not know we're fighting a war?"

Ethan pursed his lips, took her stiffened form and guided her down to one of the leather couches in the room, which she sank into immediately. "The more likely explanation is that Betos was simply not fit to command, and she was given more authority than she should have had, despite her being a red flag."

"Yes, yes, I know," Saudia sighed wearily, closing her eyes and resting her head back. "Laura told me she believed that, despite the reservations of some soldiers, the aliens would keep most of them focused on the big picture. On the actual threat."

"Can't really blame her," Ethan admitted, putting an arm around her, which she held onto with the opposite arm. Human contact had really been missing from her life the past few weeks. Handshakes didn't cut it. "Betos is just a very short-sighted and naïve woman. At least it's been mostly contained."

"Except that they're still out there," Saudia said. "And I get the feeling they're not going to stay quiet. They've somehow made us the villain in this, which is ludicrous."

Ethan actually chuckled. "I think that her effect will be minimal. There has been near-universal condemnation of any mention of that story from the other soldiers, especially those who've actually fought the aliens. And the public will likely feel the same way, especially after you showed the video from the Sectoid hive."

Saudia opened her eyes, staring up into the dull orange light of the chandeliers above. "I don't know how long that will last though. They'll be shocked for a few days, but they'll go back to being a potential concern if the media decides to become hostile again."

"I'm not sure about that," Ethan mused. "Just like how France was suddenly wanting to join us after they were attacked, I think seeing what you showed might have the same effect on at least ADVENT media. I doubt the foreigners will care too much."

"Hassan is going to have an interesting report for me," Saudia muttered, adjusting her body to get more comfortable. "Things can't stay the same now. But at the very least we shouldn't have a Canada situation again."

"Depends the reaction when we locate the traitors and demand we turn them over," Ethan said. "Is any nation going to risk a few thousand soldiers over their precious sovereignty?"

"The problem is that unless she goes to a border country, we'd have to go through quite a few countries in Africa to do it, none who are particularly friendly to us. We can beat them, but it'll take time we can't afford to waste now."

"Mhmm," was the answer, and they both fell silent.

"I sometimes miss EXALT," Saudia finally said after a few minutes of silence. "It was much simpler. Not a crisis every single day. Our enemies were usually beatable. Now there's none of that."

Ethan looked to her. "I suppose that's the cost of being the most powerful woman in the world."

"True," she conceded, smiling for the first time since she'd arrived. "I suppose it should be more challenging…" her voice dropped. "But the problem is that this isn't an enemy we can easily outsmart or outmaneuver. It's a mismatch in every sense of the word. It's not futility, not yet at least, but you saw what one of those Ethereals can do. And there are at least a dozen more we don't know about."

"But they can be killed," Ethan reassured her. "Everything can be. It's just a matter of finding the right strategy or weapon. Once we have our own psions…the playing field becomes much more even."

Or it'll trigger a convergence of multiple Ethereals, Saudia thought grimly, though didn't voice that thought. There was enough depressing news without her adding to it. "I suppose at worst, we'll avoid ending up like the Vitakara or Mutons."

"Really, I'm against ending up with anything that results in everyone dying," Ethan said lightly. "And I think we both should rest before we think about any more depressing threats."

"Good idea," Saudia stood and gestured to the second floor. "I assume everything is set up?"

"Yep," he said. "Housekeepers do their job well."

"I'll see you in a few minutes then," Saudia said, heading towards there. "I need a shower first."

---

ADVENT Intelligence Control, United States of America

Saudia and Elizabeth stood in front of a screen which displayed the figure of Helsa Betos on it, as well as some additional information about her. Aside from the apparent decision to shave her head, there was nothing about her that stood out. No marks, tattoos, or anything that said anything other than normal.

She looked rather plain, in all honesty; not what Saudia was expecting. Although she apparently was charismatic and was clearly intelligent, so appearances could be deceiving. Yet there was very clearly something off about her just from the picture. She couldn't put her finger on it, but it was almost like Betos was too ordinary.

She'd have to think about it some more. And it wasn't relevant to the issue. "Did you find where she is?" Saudia asked Elizabeth, not looking to her.

"She has an army several thousand strong," Elizabeth answered, almost sarcastically. "It's not hard to locate it. The problem is that Betos isn't an idiot. Even if no intelligence agents deserted with her, she was a Marshal. She knows at minimum the basics of how we operate, and my agents are keeping well back."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Still unknown," Elizabeth audibly sighed. "She's still going deeper south, but the list of probable countries is growing shorter by the day. She quite likely wants to establish some kind of alliance with one of the countries there. Only a few might be acceptable for her. Nigeria seems the most obvious, but perhaps Sudan or Chad as well. I would suggest South Africa, but that seems too far south for her right now. She's on a timer and knows it."

Saudia's lips twisted into a humorless smile. Ironic that her birthplace would house an army of traitors. "I almost regret we didn't invest more into ensuring their government was in our control back in the day," she said, not directly referencing EXALT, since even here it wasn't entirely safe from listeners. Well, it probably was, but she didn't like taking chances. "I never viewed it as a worthwhile investment. It is pitiful just how corrupt the entire continent is."

"Tell Europe thanks for that," Elizabeth muttered. "But in this case, I don't think that will actually hurt us. You saw the report?"

Saudia nodded. "We can only hope events play out like that."

Elizabeth twirled a pen between her fingers absentmindedly as she thought. "Africa, right now, does not care about the aliens. They're stuck in their decades-long feuds and their politicians, or rather, dictators, are corrupt beyond measure. So what do you think is going to happen when one of those countries gets their hands on gauss level weaponry?"

"Point it at the nearest enemy and fire," Saudia answered dismissively. "I know how they work. I grew up there, remember. If Betos starts an African Civil War, it might actually help us in the long run. Depending on who Betos encounters, she might decide to take action herself. Although then she would be an undisputed hypocrite."

Elizabeth smiled. "Betos is an intelligent woman, in the traditional sense. But she has a much greater flaw, she is a good woman. She is naïve and ignorant as to how the world works. Whatever fantasies she may have of African nations are likely false. How exactly is she going to maintain her self-righteousness when she deals with countries that deal heavily in human trafficking? Ethnic cleansing? Africa is almost as much of a mess as the Middle East in some respects, but the battles there are small; skirmishes between natives or governments putting down opposing parties of citizens."

Elizabeth sounded even more amused as she continued. "She is going to have to make a choice. Either ally with the abhorrent leaders there, or force change to happen. And if she does the latter, what exactly differentiates her from us who she supposedly despises? If the former? Well, the headlines write themselves," she raised a hand in the air, as if spelling out a headline. "'Traitor to Humanity makes deal with known slavers' fitting, I'd say."

Saudia felt a little better about the situation, now that it was clear this was not going to turn out like how Betos was expecting. "And the reasons for her desertion have been kept quiet?"

"One of the first things me and Stein did," Elizabeth assured her. "While I doubt it would have actually started mass defections, it would have created unnecessary problems. All the majority know is that Betos is a traitor that abandoned them when she was needed. As you can imagine, the majority are furious at her and for good reason."

"And what of her soldiers that didn't defect?" Saudia asked.

"Also handled," Elizabeth nodded. "They have all agreed not to share actual details, and are being transferred to different Legions at the moment. Many of them were helpful. The media will talk about this for a while, but they don't have enough information to keep the story going. Not to mention there are actual events to cover that are not rumors."

Saudia pinched the bridge of her nose. "And I suppose the fallout from Canada has started?"

"Yes, but some of it was inevitable," Elizabeth answered, starting to pace. "Your presentation of the alien experiments has quelled most of the civilian dissent that would have come up otherwise. Public approval took a small hit, but there were quite a few that were actually supporting the action. The Canadian population is torn between outrage at us, or outrage at the former Prime Minister for not doing something. They will not be a problem."

"Good," Saudia said approvingly. "It's nice to know we're not facing an immediate civil uprising."

Both women chuckled at that.

"I find it funny that the European media has now taken up the 'the people must act to change ADVENT' tactic," Elizabeth said with some amusement. "Really, what exactly are they going to do? March in protest? Attack us?"

"I think they forgot peaceful protest is legal," Saudia said, feeling good enough to smile. "And it's simple fear-mongering. What they still don't realize is that an alien invasion takes priority. Everything else is secondary. If the image of humans being experimented on doesn't make them realize that, well, then very little will. They will be reformed once the EU officially joins ADVENT."

"In a refreshing change of pace, ADVENT media is actually deciding to focus on the aliens," Elizabeth continued, grabbing a remote and switching to CNN. "The other part is all the pundits talking about the annexation and if it was 'justified' or not. But they've run stories on Japan, Portland, and France. Interviews with soldiers and everything. I doubt it will last, but at least the ones who control what's broadcast aren't completely blind."

"And how are our operations against the aliens going?" Saudia asked, turning fully to Elizabeth.

"In comparison to everything else, very good," she said. "Operations in Australia are proceeding very well, and the rest of Oceania is following suit. It's only a matter of time before they appropriately respond, but all of our agents are prepared for that. Unfortunately no one in Japan yet, but given how tight the aliens have locked it down, it's understandable."

"We need more intel in the States," Saudia said, turning back to the screen. "Information on alien positions, numbers, and plans will be crucial when we launch our counterattack."

"Noted, and will do it," Elizabeth confirmed, pulling out her tablet and making a note. "The problem is that the aliens have a tendency to make every city into a fortress. Infiltration is difficult, but possible. There is another potential concern to be aware of. There seems to be a new kind of terrorist force working in South America. Specifically in Bolivia."

Saudia frowned. "Explain."

"We don't know that much about them," Elizabeth admitted, setting her tablet down again. "That's the problem. They show up, hit really hard, and seem to vanish. These aren't suicide bombers, or the old Islamic extremists. These appear to be almost professional assassins. Numbers in each attack range from one to as many as four, and to date, we haven't killed a single one. They all appear to be excellent marksmen, and kill through primarily headshots and IEDs." She grimaced. "The attacks have been few, but they've caused enough damage to warrant attention."

That was concerning. "And you don't know who they could be?"

"Descriptions of their attire don't sound familiar," Elizabeth shook her head. "Some kind of gas mask, trench coats, some apparently have body armor. One of the rare images shows a weapon that looks suspiciously similar to a Russian rifle."

Saudia's eyebrows furrowed. "Russia?"

"I doubt they're behind this," Elizabeth refuted. "But at the very least this weapon was based off of it. A knock-off perhaps. I showed the picture to a Russian weapons expert and he'd never seen that kind before. What's also interesting is that they appear to have no goals, or stated motivations, other than attacking us-and only us."

"They've just hit military targets?" Saudia surmised.

"Yes," Elizabeth confirmed. "Though this might only be because the number of attacks has been small. But we don't know for sure, and that is the problem. It is possible this group is independent, but they seem too well-armed, well-trained, and dangerous to not be affiliated with someone. The question is who."

"I wouldn't be surprised if they were independent, given how Luana has been acting," Saudia sighed. "I thought Stein warned her to restrain herself."

"She did," Elizabeth said with a shrug. "I believe Luana is under the impression that because she allied with XCOM and joined ADVENT so quickly, that makes her immune to consequences. While she has brought some measure of order, I feel she's causing more harm than good there."

"She hasn't officially broken a law yet," Saudia reminded her. "But I will warn her that if she doesn't restrain herself more, I'll order her to be recalled. If you don't mind, I'd ask you create a case supporting that order, because I have a feeling she's going to force my hand sooner than later, especially if these terrorists continue attacking."

"Copy that," Elizabeth said with a nod. "The point is that I'm going to be dedicating a few agents to trying to figure out who is behind this. I doubt we'll find them in the forests, but if they are being supported by a foreign government, that I can find much easier."

"Then do it," Saudia ordered. "And in the meantime, I'll deal with the other issues that are left."

---

Edmonton Garrison, Canada

It was a stark contrast to the Middle East, at least to Roman's eyes.

For the most part, the Canadians were taking what was essentially an occupation very well. Either ADVENT was extremely efficient, or the citizens just wanted some normalcy to return, but within a few days most were back to their day jobs, most of which didn't rely on the government. Not to say there wasn't one, but ADVENT was handling that.

And so they'd been helping establish an actual Garrison outside the city the past few days. Roman really was impressed by just how fast ADVENT could be when they really wanted to. The actual places for them to bunk were constructed within a couple days, even if it was just a shell. Roman didn't mind it that much, all of them were used to sleeping on uncomfortable beds.

But now it was shaping up to actually be able to defend against an attack. Watchtowers were going up, although they weren't like any he'd seen before, and they weren't just restricted to the Garrison itself. They were being built around the city perimeter.

"[Keeps,]" Konstantin said to his side, as they all stood guard, watching the engineers and laborers at work.

Roman glanced to him. "[What?]"

"[Keeps,]" Konstantin repeated, gesturing to the towers. "[That's what they remind me of. Those massive towers back in the Middle Ages, which were the last line of defense, and extremely difficult to penetrate.]"

Roman actually found that an apt comparison. If said Keeps were at least eight stories tall, with each floor packed with laser and gauss weapons, and culminating at the top with a number of AA equipment and missile defense systems which could only be described as 'overkill'.

Although with the aliens, 'overkill' might not even be enough.

"[It's certainly impressive,]" Maksim commented. "[Fits right into the peaceful cityscape behind it.]"

"[You mock, but I bet those towers will come in handy if the aliens ever attack here,]" Roman chided. "[Do you want to go up against that thing?]"

"[Oh, no, I like it,]" Maksim corrected. "[But even you have to admit it's not exactly fitting in.]"

"[At least this went off so smoothly,]" Galina added, taking the opportunity to clean her weapon since absolutely nothing was going on. "[If this were the Middle East, the Peacekeepers would be hunting down insurgents.]"

"[Luckily the Canadians are a bit more civilized,]" Stanislav said approvingly. "[And smart. A few days, and they see we're not whatever lunatics the Prime Minister tried to sell them. Besides, I think some of them hate the former Prime Minister more than we did.]"

"[Wouldn't you?]" Galina asked. "[If I saw my leaders refusing to do anything when…that…was happening, I'd happily join the coup myself. No wonder the military helped us. They aren't cowards.]"

"[Well said,]" Roman complimented, nodding her way. "[Luckily people like the good PM are being dealt with. Do we even know what happened to him?]"

There was a brief pause. "[I think he was taken away for a trial,]" Anton said, his voice uncertain. "[Probably military and behind closed doors. Either way I'm pretty sure we've seen the last of him.]"

"[Good riddance,]" Maksim said, raising a mock glass in a toast. All of them chuckled.

"[I'm more curious about how long this was actually in the works,]" Stanislav mused. "[There was no way this was decided in a few days. How does the Chancellor authorize an annexation anyway? Just gives the order?]"

"[No, it's actually pretty complicated,]" Elena spoke up, standing in a more relaxed position. Even if she hadn't told him, Roman knew she quite liked the country for the sights alone. "[From the guidelines that are public, there are two ways of ordering an annexation that I know. One is directly from the Chancellor, but they have to have pretty much every single organization sign off on it. So the Army, Navy, Peacekeepers, Intelligence, et cetera.]"

"[And the second?]" Roman asked.

"[I'm getting to that,]" she chided. "[The second is through the Congress. From what I can tell it's introduced like normal legislation, and they vote on if it should be approved. It has to be a very solid case, otherwise that supposedly has repercussions. None of this is public either, everything is done behind closed doors. And if they do pass it, all that is needed is for the Chancellor to authorize it.]"

"[Interesting,]" Galina said. "[So I wonder which one the Chancellor chose?]"

"[She said she was 'authorizing' it,]" Roman recalled. "[Might be the wording, but it sounds like this went through the Congress in that case. Makes it look more diplomatic too; like she isn't doing this as some kind of power grab.]"

"[If that's the case,]" Galina said slowly. "[It means that this was planned well before Japan. It might have just been a coincidence then. I wonder what made ADVENT angry enough to decide annexation was a justified option, beyond the government acting like idiots?]"

"[Even if Japan hadn't happened, they'd probably still get support,]" Konstantin said firmly. "[They knew the aliens were doing that kind of stuff to us and still decided to do nothing. You don't get to be neutral in this war. It's one thing if they help us, but don't want to join, but something completely different if they refuse to help at all.]"

"[That's what doesn't make sense,]" Elena sighed. "[Why did they not just let us go through and flank the aliens on the West Coast? It costs them nothing and we respect that. Is it that much to ask?]"

Galina snorted. "[The very short answer to that is because the Prime Minister was a pacifistic coward. End of story. He was a traitor and was dealt with like one.]"

"[Hey, on the bright side, at least he didn't desert,]" Maksim said with false levity. "[Did all of you hear about it? It just broke a few hours ago.]"

Roman swung his head sharply to the marksman. "[Excuse me?]"

"[Seconded,]" Galina added.

"[Well, apparently nearly an entire garrison stationed in Saudi Arabia just left,]" Maksim explained, his tone becoming audibly angry. "[I wish I was making it up. But yeah, they honestly just deserted. Speculation is that they went somewhere in Africa.]"

There was a stunned silence. Roman coughed. "[I genuinely hope they were all mind-controlled to do that.]"

"[No psionics that have been reported,]" Maksim said grimly. "[Not that ADVENT would confirm either way, but I don't think that's the case. No official motivations were given, but with the timing, I wonder if the annexation had anything to do with it.]"

"[Fucking traitors,"] Galina growled, standing up and completely tense. "[Did they forget we're fighting a war!?]"

"[No Galina, remember, ADVENT is a fascist dictatorship and the actual enemy,]" Anton mocked, although he was clearly angry as well. "[Sarcasm, but I've actually seen posts like that online. That being said, I didn't realize that those idiots were actually in the military.]"

Roman found it hard to comprehend why any soldier would desert now of all times. Were they scared? Too selfish? He couldn't actually believe they genuinely deserted because they felt that ADVENT of all things was the enemy. The complete lack of logic to arrive at that conclusion was mind-boggling. "[Did they not see the video?]" He wondered out loud. "[Did they not see Japan, the United States, or Australia? How…]" He trailed off, shaking his head. "[What are they thinking?]"

"[I think,]" Galina said slowly. "[That they actually want to die, and they don't want to get killed by aliens, so they make ADVENT hunt them down instead.]" She shrugged. "[Go and tell me that doesn't make as much sense as whatever these traitors were thinking.]"

"[Suits me fine,]" Maksim agreed lightly. "[Well, I'm certainly rooting for ADVENT Intelligence to hunt them down. Not sure if I want them shot on sight or brought back alive for a highly public trial.]"

"[Waste of bodies,]" Stanislav shook his head. "[Put those traitors to something useful. Have their sentence being sent to become Human test subjects. Preferably to XCOM. Get some use out of them before they die.]"

"[Is that even a thing?]" Konstantin asked, Roman could imagine his eyebrow being raised.

"[I actually think so,]" Stanislav nodded. "[I was going through one of the Peacekeeper documents and one of the substitutes for the death penalty was 'usage of the convicted for civilian or military experimentation' or something like that. If anyone deserves capital punishment, it's traitors.]"

"[If I had a cup, I'd drink to that,]" Maksim said approvingly. "[Hopefully they get killed by some disease in those jungles.]"

While that would be an ironic death, Roman was much more in favor of bringing them back, putting them on trial, and then…hmm…either means of capital punishment would be good. But while Stanislav made a good point about not wasting bodies, Roman knew he would quite enjoy putting down traitors.

And the best way to carry that out was with a bullet between the eyes.

He almost hoped he'd get that opportunity. If he wasn't killing aliens, killing traitors would be nearly as satisfying. Maybe even a little bit more.

---

ADVENT Command, Switzerland

Saudia was expecting Hassan to be somewhat miffed at the latest developments, but at least he had been informed about them beforehand. Still, she wasn't surprised her Chief Diplomat wasn't exactly pleased with how things had gone.

"Working with you is not boring," was one of the first things he'd said. "I can say that much."

Now that they were settled, and were standing in front of a holomap, Saudia waited for him to begin. "The good news is that the damage isn't as bad as it could have been," he started. "Annexing countries tends to get people nervous. Smart to add some emotional weight to the situation and give some plausible reasoning behind it."

"Of course," Saudia nodded. "Now what have been the major changes?"

"Well, France is fully integrated into ADVENT," Hassan began, motioning to the map of Europe. "Prior to the annexation, that was a massive blow to the EU, and even afterwards there is a lot of talk of more countries joining us. Some of it is due to fear, but some of the smaller nations think they will have more influence with us than sticking to the continually weakening EU."

"They would," Saudia said. "No question."

"A fact I've been stressing to make when talking with representatives," Hassan nodded, looking rather pleased. "Iceland, Ireland, and Poland are in talks with joining, and if they leave, more will soon follow. The main holdouts that remain are Spain, the UK, Finland and Sweden. The rest appear to be in a more neutral position."

Saudia's brow furrowed. "Curious. Why those specific ones?"

"Presumably because they are heavily tied to the EU and retain quite a bit of influence over that. All of which would be lost under ADVENT. That, and in the case of Spain and the UK, they don't like the idea of not being independent. Finland hates Russia, and Sweden is more ideologically opposed to ADVENT, similar to Canada."

At least Sweden wouldn't give her nearly the same problems. Saudia couldn't envision a scenario right now where they became relevant. At least not unless the war arrived in Europe. "They'll come around eventually. All we need to do is keep weakening the EU bit by bit. If we start a domino effect, the rest will fall into place."

"Exactly my thoughts," Hassan confirmed with a nod. "But I think we can take our time with Europe for the moment. We slowly erode their power, and eventually assimilate them. I'll focus on the three countries mentioned, and then move onto the next ones. The biggest issue coming from Europe isn't the countries necessarily, but the media."

"But the governments are staying quiet on the issues," Saudia noted grimly, thinking. "They're being rather cheeky. England especially since some of the organizations get government funding. Even if they aren't giving the orders, simply allowing them to run anti-ADVENT propaganda is tantamount to supporting it."

"Agreed," Hassan said, handing her a sheet of paper. "I inquired about this, and the British Parliament sent this back which essentially says that 'they will look into this'."

"Translation: We aren't going to do anything," Saudia muttered as she read the piece of paper. "Unfortunately, there isn't much we can do to stop it short of threats, and I would prefer not to resort to that."

"Mhmm, and that brings up something I want to discuss," Hassan said, moving around the other side of the holotable to face her. "Public opinion is highly polarized on ADVENT. Much as you want people to focus, quite rightly, on the aliens, most don't think like that. People resist change, and to be brutally honest, you haven't done that much to actually persuade people that ADVENT is indeed an improvement."

He waved a hand aimlessly. "I'm surprised it's taken this long for you to understand this. There are a lot of good things about ADVENT; progress that's been stalled for decades. At the same time, ADVENT is far less forgiving of idiocy, and guess what ends up in the news? Videos of Peacekeepers putting down protesters and annexing countries. Remove context for the moment, that doesn't look good."

Saudia winced. "In the grand scheme of things, a focus on PR seemed minor compared to an alien invasion."

"Fair enough, but it can quell some of the worries at home," Hassan said. "TV interviews and your ADVENT reporting isn't going to cut it. You're relying on an educated and critically thinking population, which I'm afraid isn't representative of most people. That won't come for several generations, assuming we win." He paused. "This isn't my area of expertise, but you should put some effort into addressing this."

"Don't worry," Saudia assured him. "I've established an actual Public Relations agency, which will go into effect soon. I already have someone tasked to lead it."

An eyebrow rose. "Really? Excellent," he cleared his throat. "Returning to the topic at hand, that wraps up most of Europe. Little has changed in the Middle East, aside from the desertion, and Karen is working as hard as she can to restore the area. Slow going, but things have…stabilized. But there is a potential liability in the region."

Saudia waited. "Which is?"

"Two, actually," he corrected. "Egypt and Turkey. This isn't necessarily related to the Middle East conquest, but due to their status as wildcards of the region. Turkey especially should be addressed. They have a large standing army, and hold some crucial parts of land which lead directly to Russia and Europe, and coincidentally, right to the Middle East itself. Their position is largely why they were so valued in NATO."

She frowned. "Do you think they might attack?"

"No," Hassan said hesitantly. "But they might make life difficult for us there. Their army would be extremely useful, but there is a sizable part of their population that is, I would say, fundamentalist. Which translates to Islam is still practiced there, although not as much as it was, and as a result the people there are not exactly happy with us."

"I suspect the issues don't stop there," Saudia guessed. "Armenia being part of ADVENT is likely something they aren't thrilled with. "

A grim smile grew on Hassan's face. "No, they certainly are not. And your under-the-radar acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide is also something they take…issue with. The problem is that their government is much smarter than the rest of the Middle East, and stays out of truly extremist activities. They prefer working through proxies and the like. Unfortunately, I don't think they'll ever assimilate into ADVENT willingly, not with the current leadership."

"So do you have a proposal?" Saudia asked.

"Not a diplomatic one at this point," he sighed. "No, I'm not suggesting anything drastic yet. But I want to at least try and open negotiations with them. At the very minimum they might be willing to work with us."

Saudia frowned. "They are a nuclear power. That should be taken into account."

"Technically true," Hassan acknowledged. "On paper. In practice…their nuclear weapons aren't as much of a problem because they aren't actually their own."

Saudia recalled something like this now that he brought it up. "They were a part of the nuclear sharing agreement."

"Correct," Hassan nodded. "And it doesn't help that the nuclear weapons they do have are simple bombs; nothing like modern nuclear weapons. If the United States were to request their bombs back, Turkey would likely comply because they know that if they don't, it would give us a reason to deal with them permanently. Like I said, they might not like us, but I don't think they'll get in our way. Thus, negotiation for now."

"Attempt it then," Saudia nodded. "But don't waste more time than necessary."

"Understood," Hassan focused to a new point of the map. "You're already familiar with how things are in Canada and the United States, so I won't repeat it. However, Mexico is finalizing their integration into ADVENT."

Saudia smiled. "Excellent."

"South America, on the other hand…" he scratched his chin. "Very little progress. The Southern nations like Argentina, Chile, and Peru are staunchly against any sort of integration, largely thanks to the infamous reputation of Miss Luana. I would encourage that she be put in charge of the Brazilian Legion and get her out of what is essentially a perpetual military state. That isn't representative of ADVENT, and she's had plenty of time to put together at least preliminary elections."

Saudia snorted. "Luana and elections? I see you haven't actually met her. But I do agree. She's becoming too unreliable, and Stein will step in if she doesn't calm down soon. We'll have to allow some time for things to settle, but I don't think South America will become a major battleground for some time." She didn't mention that Elizabeth was looking into several of the mentioned nations. Depending on what she found, Luana may retain some usefulness then.

"Let us hope," Hassan agreed. "Now…I have given your statement to various African representatives regarding turning over the traitors, should they request asylum. That being said, I'm not expecting much success. Many are unfortunately notorious and corrupt, which I'm sure you are aware of. Some of them would have no problem lying directly to us, and I suspect they are too focused on their own internal politics to really care what is happening outside their nations."

"I am aware," Saudia confirmed, resting her back against the wall. "I'm not concerned with them right now. If they cooperate, good, if not, we'll take steps to correct that. But they are a secondary concern at best right now. What about China?"

"Radio silence," Hassan answered immediately. "They are staying out of anything relating to ADVENT, and their diplomats have refused to give the ruling Communist Party's official stance on our annexation of Canada. Or anything else for that matter. They appear to be very unsettled, and are going out of their way to not antagonize us, or even get our attention."

"Interesting," Saudia mused. "But nothing has changed aside from that?"

"Not especially," he shrugged. "But their ranking diplomat did imply that if ADVENT required assistance, or something else from China, it might be provided."

That was certainly good news. "That's all we need," she said approvingly. "In that case, they might be useful when the aliens attack Korea or when we counterattack Japan."

"Hopefully," Hassan said slowly. "But I don't think we'll know for certain unless we really need them. Until then we'll just have to wait and see."

"Or until the aliens attack China," Saudia added. "That might force them to do something."

"Given a choice between destruction and ADVENT, I would assume they'd choose ADVENT," he agreed. "But I think that the aliens know this too. I'm not sure they would attack even if they could win easily."

"Quite possibly," Saudia noted grimly. "Anything else I should be aware of?"

"The only other event of note is the religious summit you wanted planned," Hassan reminded her, cocking his head. "I do hope you actually remember that, yes?"

Ah. That. Truth be told Saudia had let it fall from her priorities in the past weeks, even if it was her idea initially. It was something that needed to happen sooner or later, and she'd rather have things figured out with the various religions before one of them decided to do something stupid. That being said, she was not relishing that particular meeting.

Although now that she was thinking about it, she figured she might as well get a head start on it. Maybe make it clear that certain things wouldn't be tolerated under ADVENT, specifically with the Catholic Church. "When is the date again?" She asked. "I had it for next month, correct?"

He briefly looked down. "Yes, the twenty-first. Summons were sent out a few days ago, and only a few responses so far, which is to be expected."

"Probably wondering what the goal is," Saudia muttered. "But I want to meet a few of them ahead of time. Clear the air, so to speak."

Hassan furrowed his eyebrows. "And that means?"

"That means I want a meeting scheduled with the Vatican," Saudia said vaguely. "And put Elizabeth on this as well. Stein too."

He smiled grimly as he saw her goal. "Is this an investigation or a meeting?"

She echoed his humorless smile. "Both, I think. And they won't necessarily be the last either. Organized religion seems to attract criminals in some cases. That kind of hypocrisy is intolerable to me."

"It will be done," he promised. "I believe that covers everything important."

Saudia nodded. "Keep up the good work. In the meantime, I need to actually speak with the new Manager of Public Relations."

---

ADVENT Command, Switzerland

Saudia had considered an exhaustive list of candidates for a manager of public relations. Public spokesmen, diplomats, business managers, speechwriters, and even some filmmakers and artists. Anyone who could craft and design a message and more importantly, convince other people to believe it. Someone able to manage multiple media campaigns and equipped with an understanding of human psychology would also be essential.

Finding people who had those qualities wasn't especially difficult. The problem was they would have to be reliable and especially have the motivation and loyalty to carry out what would be at the best of times, a difficult job. Unfortunately, not many of those people existed and she wanted to avoid people who hadn't had experience on similarly sized projects. Relatively, at least.

The good news was that she had found such a person. Kyong Suk-Chul had over twenty years of experience managing public relations for an entire country, was extremely well-educated with degrees in psychology, telecommunications, and interestingly enough, English composition. He spoke English, Chinese, and Korean flawlessly, and had a rudimentary understanding of Russian and Spanish. At only forty-five, he was incredibly young for such an esteemed position.

Said esteemed position was the Head of the KCNA, the former state media of North Korea. On paper he was simply the head of one of the few media companies allowed in the country. In reality, he was the one in charge of North Korean propaganda.

That alone had made several advisors want to dismiss him, not because of the position itself, but because putting the one behind decades of North Korean propaganda in charge of PR might look suspicious. That was indeed a risk, but Kyong had successfully controlled the population of an entire country through mostly non-violent means, and that was the kind of expertise she needed here.

However, she'd entertained other suggestions, and they unsurprisingly hadn't been able to come up with someone with similar or superior qualifications. Iseul had assured her that Kyong was perfect for the job, and while she was taking that endorsement with a grain of salt, he quite clearly knew what he was doing.

The first major meeting was today, and she'd tasked him with designing a comprehensive strategy for reducing civilian unrest and increasing the perception of ADVENT in both a domestic and international sense. A tall order, and she was curious what he would have for her.

Saudia reached the designated room where he was to meet her, and opened the door after gesturing for her personal guard to leave her be. It was pretty clear that anything discussed in this room would be as confidential as possible. After making sure the door was locked, she turned to see Kyong Suk-Chul sitting at the end of the small square table, reading something on a tablet.

He looked up as she entered, and placed the tablet down next to a neat stack of folders, then stood. He was much smaller than her, but he didn't seem concerned by the size difference, as it was only a few inches. His black hair that had strands of gray in it was neatly combed back, and his face was cleanly shaven.

"Chancellor," he greeted, almost no trace of an accent in his voice. "A pleasure to see you again."

"You as well," she answered, inclining her head as she took his extended hand for a single shake. "I trust you've acclimated to your position?"

"Exceptionally," he smiled. "What was not suitable to me, I simply requested changed. Having the freedom to establish this operation as I see fit has helped considerably, with your overall guidelines taken into account of course."

Saudia clasped her hands behind her back. "I'm curious what you have to show me. You have a plan?"

Kyong motioned to the whiteboard behind him, on which he'd written a few boxes of text. "Perception is what needs to be controlled, Chancellor. Not an easy task by any means, but completely doable if you have the correct tools and the resources to apply them to a global scale. There are several major areas of focus regarding perception, and the most obvious are the Peacekeepers, the ADVENT Administration itself, the Military, and the aliens themselves." He followed the drawing he had written on the board. "To further complicate matters, this has to be applied to the differing perspectives of both domestic and foreign populations. The goal is to not simply appease the ones living in ADVENT, but be alluring to the ones who live outside it as well."

He looked briefly at Saudia. "Chancellor, what is a sign of an effective government?"

She thought for a few seconds. "A controlled population and effective legislature."

"Generic, but I would tend to agree," Kyong said. "But control is not enough. Squeeze too tight and you create an army with nothing to lose, and generate sympathy for them by those in power. Be too lax and you have anarchy. No, my experience has been that the most effective governments have populations that are content."

Saudia frowned. "That could be subjective depending on the person."

"I said content, not happy," Kyong corrected. "Happiness is subjective. People need certain things in their life, and the standard of living has continually risen. Food, housing, medicine, internet, electricity, provide a person with the basic necessities, and they may not necessarily be happy, but they will be content. Why should they support a revolutionary or questionable politician when they are being provided everything they need to survive?"

He waved a hand dismissively. "All that are left are ideologies. The suppression of media, the removal of freedoms, all of these can be defeated simply by a correct application of arguments and critical thinking. Morality is the one consistent argument against us, and it is weak; relying on traditional and outdated values that fail to hold up in this war. But the reason people rally behind ideologies isn't necessarily that they believe them, they just view the commanding administration as worse. But should their basic needs be provided for; if they are shown again and again how ADVENT being in charge directly improves their life, any argument levied against it will be completely dismissed."

He smiled. "The architects of the Advent Directive, whoever they were, appear to have understood this. To truly fix the mistakes of the old governments, new ones must be built from the ground up, free of political ideologies, money, or influence. I'm quite impressed by it."

"I'll be sure to pass it along," Saudia commented. "Eloquent, but how do you plan to apply this?"

"Very simply," Kyong began, picking up one of the folders. "The biggest issue right now is that much of the coverage surrounding ADVENT has been negative. And ADVENT media has been neutral at best, at times going after the lies published by media outlets and refuting them. While effective, after a certain point, the negativity can become overwhelming for people. Then it becomes a war over who can weaponize the negative coverage best."

He raised a finger. "However, there is a very simple antidote to this: Positivity. No, it isn't a joke. People always respond better to good news than bad. They attempt to control by manipulating and stoking fear, anger, negative emotions that they hope will be taken out on their opponents, while at the same time not offering any substance as to why they are any better." He smiled grimly. "The United States political system was rather notorious for this."

Saudia gave a wry smile at that. "Most democratic systems are."

"Which is why there is a unique opportunity here," Kyong continued. "The reason this has now become so prevalent is that the narrative is completely reactionary from ADVENT. You order a controversial action, and it soon gets weaponized by your opponents. By the time you attempt to clarify further, much of the damage is done. The media, Chancellor, is like a parrot. It repeats back whatever it sees, and only later is opinion added. To be fair, you haven't given many positive stories to tell, and that does not need to be the case."

He picked up one of the folders and handed it to her. "Read this, Chancellor," She did. It was a list of names, none of which she recognized.

She cocked her head at him. "And this is?"

"As a result of the decriminalization of certain substances, you had given the order that prisoners incarcerated for those crimes were to be pardoned," Kyong explained. "That is a sample of the list of names. And if I understand correctly, you were planning to officially do this rather quietly. Why?"

She thought back. That event had actually been one she'd ordered quite a while ago, something Stein had brought up when they were…well, doing something. It had seemed simple to her. No point keeping people imprisoned who were in jail for a crime that was no longer one. Besides, the people freed would no doubt remember ADVENT was the one who'd been behind this. "I didn't see a reason to," she answered with a shrug. "This is just the result of a policy change, and I believed there were more important aspects to have the focus be on."

"With respect, Chancellor, that is completely incorrect," Kyong said with a smile. "You vastly underestimate how much people don't know about your new policy changes. Out of curiosity I looked at one of the few polls out there, and while I'm certain it wasn't entirely accurate, there was an alarming percentage of people who don't understand how ADVENT works."

He tapped a finger on the table. "Assume we are dealing with an uneducated public, Chancellor, how is that fixed?"

"Education, obviously," Saudia nodded. "Different formats to target different demographics."

"Exactly," Kyong said approvingly. "We are dealing with two different generations here: Older and younger, each with different ways of influencing them. The traditional media is largely what the older generations, normally those fifty and older, consumes. Most of them get all their knowledge about politics from them, like it or not. Most people prefer to have others tell them what to think. There is no reason we cannot exploit that."

He paused to take a breath. "Returning to the mass pardons, this is an exceptional opportunity to not only inform the population that ADVENT is not only harsh on criminals, but recognizes and executes justice. This will be a public event where Stein will make the announcement. I guarantee that it will be the main subject for days afterwards, provided there are no more alien attacks."

Saudia quite liked the idea, with some reservations. "I'm not sure that will be portrayed as completely positive," she said. "There are some people who will be opposed to it."

"Largely older generations, and their relevance is fading," Kyong dismissed. "And I'd think you'd be surprised. It's all in presentation. But think on the other aspects of ADVENT that you could highlight with simple press conferences. Free healthcare to all citizens; tuition-free higher education; government investment in start-ups and small businesses. The goal, Chancellor, is to focus on what ADVENT actually is, not what it's rumored to be. Run tours in Peacekeeper training, give demonstrations of the technology being used; give the media access to certain parts of the Congress of Nations; give them access to battlefields and show the alien threat first hand. Do you notice a theme in this?"

Saudia nodded once. "We control the narrative. They react to what we are doing, and can't ignore it because if they do, someone else will cover it."

"And turn their need for ratings against them," Kyong finished smugly. "ADVENT is simply too big to ignore. We are the story, and they know it, and much as their agenda may not favor us, they need us right now."

"I'm impressed," Saudia said. "Your plan seems satisfactory so far."

"Which is only one aspect," Kyong said, picking up another folder and flipping through it. "Now, the other important part that needs to be dealt with are the younger generations. Millennials and below. Ultimately, they are the ones growing up in ADVENT, and will be responsible for the future when we are gone. They are the demographic that needs to be targeted. They are potential soldiers and members in ADVENT which we need. The question is, of course, how to reach them."

"The internet," Saudia supposed. "Social media, things like that."

"No." Kyong stated flatly. "At least not like how you're thinking of it. While ADVENT certainly needs a social media presence, having a twitter account or Facebook page isn't going to cut it. They'll never trust a government entity, at least not completely. No, who has the most influence over the younger generations?"

Saudia grimaced. "Celebrities."

Kyong chuckled at her derision. "That they do, unfortunately. Artists, singers, filmmakers, vloggers; these are the people who they look up to and admire. So while they might not believe an ADVENT official telling them that the Peacekeepers aren't a suppressive organization, if their favorite YouTube star were to say the same thing, they will likely believe it." He smiled sardonically. "Remember, many people like to have their thinking done for them."

He handed her the folder. "In there is a list of some of the largest so-called 'internet personalities'. Most have millions of followers, subscribers, or some equivalent of numerical fame. The topics range from politics, weapons, history, debate, video games, whatever you can imagine. And I would say that those numbers are not entirely accurate since there are many who aren't registered who follow these people."

"So what is your suggestion?" Saudia asked. "Hire them to reach their fans?"

Kyong snorted. "I'd prefer not to be so blunt. It's unnecessary. But certainly reach out to them, give them some kind of access to something relevant to their blog or channel. Interviews with people of actual influence, tours of the Congress of Nations and Military training bases. Daring ones could be taken to areas near the front lines, the possibilities are not exactly few."

Saudia nodded slowly. She was honestly surprised by how much he knew about this subject. The population of North Korea was very different from the rest of the world, but he still understood it like an expert, and this was one area she hadn't really put much thought into. "I like it. Although I suspect there are some who hold negative opinions towards us."

"Oh, certainly," Kyong dismissed. "But generally political focused personalities, and even then most seem split at best, largely because many look at information available to them. What is especially helpful is that it is not easy to put ADVENT into a very clear box most people are used to. Aspects are more right-wing, but others are left-wing. The combination of the two is something some people have issues grasping."

That was something Saudia could easily believe. "While it may be more traditional, I think we should also expand our own media propaganda. Recruitment, PSAs, that sort of thing. It has been lax in that regard."

"I couldn't agree more," Kyong nodded with a smile. "Short videos are best for that sort of thing. The better the presentation, the more people will be convinced. No need to do this internally. Do you really think the directors from what's left of Hollywood wouldn't jump at the chance to direct them with a nearly unlimited budget, and for a clearly good cause? Do you know how many artists out there would give up nearly everything to ply their craft not only for the cause, but to be officially recognized by ADVENT?" His smile grew. "I wouldn't mind a return to the era of propaganda posters. Some of the art then really was excellent."

"Perfect," Saudia nodded. "What else is left?"

"I believe that covers the main points," Kyong said slowly. "However, one thing to consider is that these are impersonal. The one thing that will change hearts and minds is people actually interacting with the men and woman of ADVENT, and if they have a personal stake in what is happening. This would be something that needs to be organized on local levels, but I believe Commander Christiaens has proposed bringing back the tactic of trench warfare?"

"Correct," Saudia confirmed. "I will be discussing that with her later, in fact."

"Exactly what is needed," he said approvingly. "The task may be a daunting one, but people have attachments to their homes, do they not? Why not include them in the task of preparing their city for an attack? Compensate them of course, have it be organized, give them the tools and motivation needed to do the job. Soldier and civilian working side by side would do a lot to ease tensions and change minds."

He looked up rather thoughtfully. "It doesn't need to stop there. Send out emails and fliers advertising city events with Peacekeepers, leaders, and soldiers; give the public the ability to interact with ADVENT and ask questions. Let them know the Drug Recovery Centers and Mental Treatment Institutions are available for usage. Find the homeless on the streets and give them what they need to be productive and content members of society." He paused briefly. "People believe propaganda is simply lies, and to an extent, it always is. But propaganda is the art of manipulating the narrative, and without question, the most effective propaganda, Chancellor, is that which is true."

At that Saudia knew she'd made the right choice in appointing him. Propagandist or no, he was exactly what was needed. "Give me the details of what you need," she ordered. "I want this implemented immediately."

"Of course, Chancellor," he answered with a smile. "I look forward to properly starting."

---

Busan, South Korea

"[You need to evacuate Seoul,]" Duri told Sandara without any ambiguity. "[It's too dangerous to stay there.]"

His wife looked utterly exhausted and wrecked, which wasn't surprising given that he'd only managed to let her know he was actually alive in the past couple days, and it had taken a couple more to actually set up some time for them to speak. Japan had everyone in the region on edge, and Duri knew there were already efforts to begin evacuating people into North Korea.

The irony of the situation didn't escape him.

But times changed and he knew very clearly that North Korea wasn't an enemy anymore. They'd proven that they were more than capable of supporting soldiers that weren't of their nation, as Kang had proven right before he'd died. Whatever the past, they were all united in fighting back the invasion. Still, he wasn't excited about any of them going to North Korea without him, mostly because he didn't know what was actually there.

"[And you're just going to stay there?]" Sandara asked sadly. "[You almost died.]"

"[But I didn't,]" he emphasized. "[And there are probably going to be a lot of times I'm put in danger before this ends. Not that I like it…but it's what I signed up for. To protect people. To protect you and the girls.]"

"[I…]" she trailed off, looking away. "[I know. But it was almost impossible to get through those days. I'd thought you'd died there. And I wasn't the only one.]"

Duri rubbed his forehead. "[Just remember that it always takes a few days to verify for certain. Don't assume the worst right away.]"

"[A bit easier for you,]" she sighed. "[It's not like you always have to worry about if we are in danger or not.]"

"[And I'm going to keep it that way,]" he said firmly. "[Your safety is more important than mine. As long as you're safe that's all I need to know.]"

A moment of silence lapsed between them. "[I'll get ready to move. They're encouraging evacuations here as well. The girls are nervous about the whole thing. They're getting more scared and I don't know what to say to them. I can't twist everything as a big adventure."

"[Just keep reminding them that I'm fine and they'll be safe up there,]" Duri told her. "[The aliens, for better or worse, are being methodical. We can accurately predict where they're going to go next and what the next points of attack will be. If they reach Seoul…then you can start to worry. But they aren't anywhere close to that.]"

"[Hopefully the next time we talk I'll be able to tell you what it's like up there,]" she said after a few seconds. "[You always did want to see what North Korea was like.]"

"[True,]" he recalled. "[Be sure to take pictures.]"

She gave a wan smile. "[Of course I will. Be safe.]"

"[I'm doing my best,]" he told her. "[I love you.]"

"[I love you too,]" she answered. "[I'll see you later.]"

The screen cut out, and left Duri alone sitting there with his thoughts. He was tired and needed some decent amount of rest. It had been non-stop since they'd evacuated Japan, and he'd personally felt he was lucky to be one of the survivors in the face of…whatever that alien had been. Half his team was dead, Beatriz was still recovering, and in general things were not good.

No one knew just how soon the next attack was going to come, but they were preparing for the worst. Busan had the largest military base close to the coast, so it was likely where the aliens would attack next in this region. Preparations were still being made, but he suspected that the real focus was going to be on converting Seoul into a fortress in the event the coast fell.

It was harsh, but Duri could understand the need to focus on that city, even if it meant they were writing off the coast in all but words. Not that nothing was being done, it just wasn't nearly ready.

And the whole situation with Japan was not counting that there had been a lot of other events happening in the world. Canada had been annexed, which he'd found surprising until he'd actually seen the Chancellor give her justification, and from seeing the aliens firsthand…he couldn't exactly feel sympathetic to the Canadian government.

Anyone who wasn't working to defeat the aliens weren't people worthy of consideration at best, and should be considered traitors at worst. Or were cowards. It was unfortunate for the people, but hopefully ADVENT treated them well.

And then the news had broken of a group of soldiers who'd deserted.

Deserted.

Duri felt furious just thinking about that. He'd never wanted to personally kill someone before, but if he ever met those traitors then he'd be sorely tempted to do so. It was so unfathomably selfish that he'd almost gaped when he'd heard it. It was one thing to desert in a war, but it seemed on a completely different level to just…leave when the fate of their entire species was at stake.

He'd quite liked Cara's take on it, which she'd so eloquently stated after throwing her cup into a wall after he'd told her. "Kang and Johan are dead, Beatriz is still unconscious, the aliens are cutting up babies and killing us by the hundreds, but these fucking traitors ran like cowards because ADVENT had the fucking nerve to stop that fucking moron running Canada!"

Just thinking of that made him feel a little better. For some reason he'd thought that the stakes in this war would prevent that sort of thing from happening. But apparently not, which was rather sad. Still, he was certainly going to drink a toast to whoever ended up putting those traitors down, provided he was still alive.

He stood and walked out of the room. There wasn't anything else to do at the moment, so he figured he might as well find where Cara had gone to. They'd likely get new soldiers in a few days, but for now all they could do was wait.

---

ADVENT Research Command, Brazil

"When XCOM provided much of their research to us, it expedited our own programs significantly," Munju said as he guided Saudia into the lab. "Since many of XCOM's own genetic projects were similar to our own, I have simply applied them as-is, and we are expanding further into areas XCOM has not. That we know of, that is."

Saudia nodded as they stepped in front of several glass cages where there were multitudes of animals and flora inside them. "If that is the case, what are you making advances into?"

"Many of the new genetic enhancements are in the theoretical stages," Munju explained, rubbing his chin. "At least as they are applied to Humans. I want to look into more…radical forms of alteration. Their Stinger modification was quite genius, and I want to look more into that particular line of research."

He motioned her over to a small glass habitat, of which there were beetles inside. Saudia had never developed a fondness for insects, so she wasn't particularly thrilled. "Beetles?"

"Bombardier beetles, to be specific," Munju clarified with a smile. "Completely normal, aside from the defense mechanism where they eject a chemical spray. Harmless to Humans, of course, but that particular addition on a Human soldier might have a potent effect, especially if the chemical sprayed was a dangerous acid or poison. A promising line of research."

He waved her forward, and she followed, curious. "But not the only one."

Munju snorted. "Of course not. Although perhaps my easiest. This is one of my most radical." They stopped in front of a glass cell, of which inside was what looked like a Human. But it was as if the Human was stretched and elongated, especially in the torso; stretching it out far beyond what was normal. Saudia almost winced, as it looked extremely painful and the subject was clearly still alive. "I suppose you have an explanation?"

"That is phase one," Munju clarified, looking rather pleased. "First, to see if Human height, mass and overall size can be adjusted. This clearly proves they can be, but there are some…improvements that need to happen before I move forward at all. The proportions are…" he clicked his tongue. "Wrong. It looks unnatural, which should not be the goal."

Saudia glanced down to him. "Yes, but what is the point?"

"The creation of a superior Human, of course," he stated confidently. "Or at least one that can be specialized. I was inspired by the Ethereals themselves, and I believe a second set of limbs would be a worthy goal to pursue. It would revolutionize nearly everything about our society." He motioned to the test subject. "However, such an addition is impossible with Human body sizes, so those must naturally be changed."

Saudia was slightly nonplussed at the image of that. While in some cases she could see how that would be an advantage, in a purely objective view, additional limbs seemed very unsettling. It was such a radical change that she wasn't sure if that could really be classed as a Human, but something else. She definitely didn't see it being applied to anything more than a few specialized soldiers; certainly not the entire species at large.

Innovation was good, but there was such a thing as too radical. It seemed to her like the manipulation of Human characteristics was more useful, rather than the straight addition of additional limbs. "Perhaps," she relented carefully. "But I would prefer our focus be kept on immediate applications. While interesting, additional sets of limbs wouldn't provide us with a clear advantage against the aliens."

"Mhmm, I would argue otherwise," Munju said thoughtfully. "But your point is made. In which case, I have another project to show you."

She followed him through the sterile room until they were in what almost looked like a kennel due to how many dogs were in it. She noticed all of them were large, and had a history of being used for hunting. In fact, she was pretty sure there were several wolves in the mix. "The aliens have animals they have bred for war in those Chryssalids," Munju began, motioning to the dogs. "I do believe we have our own equally valuable species. Dogs have always been excellent hunting companions historically, yet have fallen out of that particular role when their usefulness was reduced due to technology. However, with MELD we can turn them into highly effective and intelligent hunters of aliens."

He specifically directed her to look at one of the dogs. It was a German Shepard, but this one was distinctly different. Its eyes were rimmed with gold, and its fur was thinner, allowing her to see the muscles bulging underneath it. Its mouth was open and its tongue hung out, showing its teeth which were longer than a normal dog's and had a silver tint to them. Most noticeable of all, it stood nearly to her stomach, which had to have been twice its original height.

"This is the first success of Project Molosser," Munju said proudly, pressing some buttons and opening up the glass cage, which slid up, and the dog happily trotted out. She resisted the urge to step back as the dog came to her, and she knew it was definitely capable to killing her if it wanted. But all it did was look up at her expectantly, and she tentatively held out her hand which the dog promptly sniffed.

"The good news is that canine minds are far simpler than Human minds," Munju explained proudly, petting the dog on its head. "Some alterations to its mind make them incapable of attacking Humans, but that modification doesn't seem to change their attitude towards us overmuch. We will likely remove such restrictions when we perfect the breed, but for now it is for our own safety. Their sense of smell and hearing have also been enhanced, even if they were already superior to our own, as well as their sight." He paused briefly. "And I've applied the Iron Skin modification, which will make them extremely difficult to kill, and increased the strength of their jaws, allowing them to actually bite with some force."

Now this was a project Saudia liked a lot. "An excellent idea," she said, scratching the dog under the chin, while he wagged his tail happily. "Is it only successful for German Shepherds?"

"The German Shepherds have been the most reliable successes," Munju explained, pulling out his tablet and scrolling through. "However, I believe that the Labrador, Husky and Grey Wolf breeds will soon follow. I've removed breeds that don't fit certain criteria, and those are the ones that I've deemed worth adapting."

Saudia wasn't an expert in dogs, but did recall that those ones were known for their physical attributes and intelligence. She knew wolves weren't technically dogs, but they were likely close enough that Munju wanted to use them. Perhaps she should get her own. She'd never really had a pet before and the idea of a war dog like this was appealing.

"I see that Dr. Munju is showing off his pets," Tygan commented, almost with an air of disapproval as he walked into the room. "Chancellor, welcome once again."

"You as well, Dr. Tygan," she returned. "And I assume your own research is proceeding well?"

"Quite, Chancellor," he confirmed, inclining his head. "In fact, I would be happy to show you, even if the recent output is not quite as…radical as that of my colleague."

Munju actually chuckled. "He's irritated that I had the idea before he did."

Tygan sniffed indignantly. "It is more the fact that the amount of resources you expended upon this was higher than if I had been in charge. As an aside, the sight of dead animals is rather draining."

"Such is the price of science," Munju shrugged. "But do carry on and show the Chancellor your own contributions." They both walked out of the kennel and into another lab which seemed to be dedicated to microbiology. She also noted that there were quite a few of the Sectoid cloning vats set up, and there were things growing in them.

But they passed all that and came to a table where there was, of all things, a burger. It sat on a white plate and looked…well, like a burger with a few leaves of lettuce, cheese and ketchup. "Chancellor, if you wouldn't mind, please sample what I've cooked today," Tygan said, motioning a hand to the plate. "I'm quite curious what you think."

Of all the people she would expect to play a joke on her, Tygan wasn't one of them. Still, this seemed very odd. She didn't really have strong feelings one way or another on burgers, so she decided to indulge him, wondering what the point of this was. After a few bites she did have to admit that it was pretty good, although she wasn't much of an expert, and it might have simply been a while since she'd had one.

"What do you think?" Tygan asked.

"It's good," she said, setting the half-eaten burger on the plate. "I did eat before I got here, but I appreciate the thought."

"There was a point to this," Tygan said with a smile. "You would say that it is a good burger?"

Saudia eyed him suspiciously. "Yes? Are you telling me it isn't?"

"Not in the traditional sense," Tygan explained, clasping his hands behind his back. "What you just ate, Chancellor, was cloned meat."

Ah, now she saw the point. "Really," she noted. "I would never have guessed. It must have been a good cow."

"Ah, but it's better," Tygan clarified. "The only part that we need for human consumption is the meat, so that is what was grown. No cows, cloned or otherwise, were harmed in the making of this burger. To put it simply, Chancellor, ADVENT has the ability to mass produce cheap, safe, humane and delicious meat; and as this can be applied to other foods, it ensures that we will never face a food shortage again in our lifetimes."

It took a second for the implications of that to reach her. She'd never truly thought about that particular application, but cloning food was something that could, and should, be done. No more famines, food shortages, no more unnecessary hunger. It might take some time for this to be turned into the size it needed to be, but Tygan just might have solved world hunger. It's usefulness to the war was debatable, but then again, soldiers needed food, and if they didn't have to worry about those resources, there was no reason they couldn't have the best ADVENT could provide.

"Exceptionally done," she complimented. "Every single humanitarian organization will thank you for your work here, not to mention those who have issues affording it."

"As long as humanity benefits from this, that is all I require," Tygan gracefully accepted. "But I would not delay this. The more hope that can be given to people, the better."

"Your project was a very creative application of cloning," Munju also complimented, tapping a finger on his chin and looking thoughtfully at the vats. "But I believe there are also ways it could be applied for the war effort, Chancellor. How much thought have you given to the idea of Human cloning?"

Saudia stood and thought for a few seconds. Truth be told she hadn't given it much thought, mostly because she never thought it would be a feasible option. Although they could theoretically do it now, they had the technology. "Is that now a possibility?"

"Certainly," Munju assured her confidently. "Though not much actual testing or research has been done. But that could certainly change, and from there the possibilities are extensive." He turned to her, a hand extended to the vats behind him. "Chancellor, eventually we're going to have a numbers problem. If not now, then in the future. We simply do not have enough soldiers to go to war with an intergalactic army. However, that could be negated by growing more Human soldiers, and we could apply MELD to them during the process, allowing them to be combat-ready the moment they step out of the vats."

"Doctor, I do believe you are exaggerating the simplicity of such an undertaking," Tygan warned cautiously. "This is not a slab of meat being grown, but a person. One that is far more complicated and with far more factors than simple vegetables or meat. Not to mention raising the question of simply bringing Humans into this world for the sole purpose of going to war."

Munju sniffed. "I didn't say it would be easy, but it would be worth it, and we will need to decide sooner or later. Chancellor, can we really afford to ignore this additional source of soldiers? We unfortunately can't wait for the next generation of Humans to be born to replace the ones dying every day."

Saudia wasn't exactly put off by the ethics of the concept of cloning, but she did believe Munju might be a little overconfident in how easily this could be done. As far as she was concerned, clones wouldn't have been born naturally anyway, so any kind of life was better than not existing in the first place. And it wasn't as though, should they actually reach that point, that they would be treated badly.

Still, it would be a touchy subject for some people. But Munju was right, eventually they were going to need more soldiers, and cloning might allow them to even the odds there. That said, she didn't think this was something she should immediately approve without some outside input. The Commander, Laura, Hassan, people who would have a better grasp on the possible social ramifications than she did.

"Chancellor, I perhaps have a much less controversial usage of cloning," Tygan said slowly. "Since we do have the capability, I would suggest we utilize this technology to clone replacement limbs or organs; ones which would reduce any chance of rejection to the designated recipient. We could remove the need for organ donation and give millions their lives back."

"I agree with Tygan here," Munju said firmly. "Regardless on the status of Human cloning, there is no reason we cannot do this. As well as synthesizing blood, plasma, and other bodily fluids needed for survival. There should be no controversy over this."

Saudia nodded. There was no question this was an immediately useful application. "Begin your work on that, and concerning Human cloning itself, I want both of you to begin preliminary research into it," she ordered. "But no growing anything that could be considered a Human fetus. Determine equipment, possible template, but no actual implementation yet. This, at the moment, is not a priority, but I want to know just how feasible it is. Understood?"

"Of course, Chancellor," Tygan said. "We will begin work on it as soon as possible."

"Excellent," Saudia said, stepping back. "Excellent work, both of you. I look forward to seeing your future projects."

---

New York, United States of America

Saudia scratched her chin. "You want to launch it now? Isn't it too preliminary?"

Jasmine gave a short nod. "Starting sooner rather than later is the best strategy. To give you a timeframe, Chancellor, if you want this to become the dominant currency, it will likely not be fully integrated until the war is over. The sooner we normalize it, the better."

That did make sense, and since Saudia knew that the denominations were figured out, all that remained was actually releasing the new currency to the public. As it was based and backed by the alien alloys, both thought it prudent that the name of the currency would be the ADVENT Alloy. There had been some debate on if they would continue using paper denominations of money, but ultimately they'd decided to keep it since it was more useful for convenience and people were too used to them.

"I am aware it will take some time," Saudia said. "So proceed. What will be your plan for deployment?"

"Very, very slowly of course," Jasmine chuckled. "There are some preliminary legislative measures that need to be taken before we actually launch it. First the Congress will need to officially recognize it as the official currency, and then mandate that all banks and businesses accept the currency legally."

"They've been aware this has been in the works for a while," Saudia told her. "Your primary contact has been Congressman Caspari, yes? I'm certain he has legislation already prepared."

"Oh, he does," Jasmine quickly confirmed, pushing over a folder with what she assumed was the official bill the Swiss Congressman would introduce. "He started drafting it after I approached him. He knows quite a bit about how to best introduce it without any superfluous loopholes. I've looked it over with several lawyers and my team, and it's solid."

Saudia opened the file and noted that there were four rather large stapled documents, not just one. "Ambitious," she noted. "How much are you planning to get through Congress?"

"The first bill obviously establishes the Alloy as the official currency," Jasmine explained. "More of a formality and not very complicated. The others are more important." She pointed at the second, much thicker, document underneath the first. "That is actually the mandate to ensure that everyone in ADVENT eventually moves to the new system."

Saudia began reading through it. "Currencies used by the State will be phased out over a five-year period until they exclusively operate under the Alloys. Good. That gives us plenty of time to set it up."

"That was the quickest it could be done and still be effective," Jasmine agreed. "And the same goal is for the rest of ADVENT businesses and corporations, although it is over a twenty-year period, with exceptions for those that do business with foreign nations. By then I think that most will be using the Alloy, and this does regulate that new businesses created one year after this has passed must use the Alloy domestically, unless they do business with foreign companies."

"That is fair," Saudia nodded, looking up. "Twenty years is more than sufficient for it to be implemented. The larger issue is the people who want to take advantage of the new currency and go and exchange it for Alloys."

"Scarcity and inflation was a massive problem," Jasmine sighed, rubbing her forehead. "One that can't ever fully be solved. We've set the price in relation to our current stockpile and how much we actually need if the wealthiest people decided to go all-in on this. It's incredibly likely that as the war goes on, we'll acquire more, and should we discover just how the alien alloys are made, we'll potentially have an unlimited supply."

She paused for a moment, considering. "The way this is set up, Chancellor, isn't like most currencies. This is because the alloys are being considered as more of a resource; we consider it valuable right now because it's useful. It can do something besides look shiny, unlike previous standards like gold. This makes it a little more difficult because hopefully, we will be able to manufacture it, and by current standards of inflation, make it worthless."

"Or you could establish a minimum value," Saudia noted. "Something that would only increase in value, but if it dropped, it would still be worth something."

"That makes the most sense, and what we came to," Jasmine said. "Although this is theoretical; nothing like this has ever been done before. Ideally, we want to reach a point where money isn't something that most people have to worry about. But to get there without problems, we'll have to get very lucky because the market will take advantage however it can."

Saudia nodded. "The more alloys in circulation, the less each one is worth. And the prices go up and things stay the same."

"Which is why to have a chance of it working, ADVENT has control over all deposits of alloys, and are the only ones who have authorization to manufacture or create them," Jasmine finished. "If we have a degree of control over how much is being put into circulation, and any surplus is directly controlled by us, the better chance the Alloy will not fluctuate as much."

It was an interesting subversion of that issue. "ADVENT uses the alloys in terms of usage cost," Saudia said, thinking. "If surpluses were kept internal, they wouldn't be devalued because we always have a use for them. Any extra could be put towards weapons, vehicles, structures, and more. It could potentially be used so that any surplus is quickly used before it can potentially affect markets, and if we do develop the ability to manufacture it, we would only make what was needed for certain projects, and not actually introduce it into the market as actual currency."

"But as a resource," Jasmine finished. "Exactly. Except that this still may not ultimately work. Money is interesting, Chancellor. On some level the concept only works because we believe it does. Literally every currency before this is based on nothing, and we only give it worth because we believe it has worth. All we're really doing is exchanging paper and pieces of metal."

Saudia did have some understanding of how fragile the whole system actually was, which was why she wanted the new currency actually backed by something. But Jasmine was right; the only way to know for sure if it ended up working was to actually do it. But there was always the chance of failure. "What of the rest of the legislation?" She asked, motioning to the final two stacks of documents.

"One of them is just regulations for the manufacturing of the paper bills and minting coins," Jasmine explained, reaching into her pocket and tossing her a coin. "Got one to show off to you. That is officially worth one ADVENT Alloy."

Saudia caught the coin, and flipped it over in her palm. It was the size of a quarter and about as heavy. It was a dark gray, which told her that this was actually made out of an alloy. On one side was the official ADVENT logo, and on the other was a side view of a woman. She raised an eyebrow. "Is this supposed to be me?"

"Officially, no," Jasmine smiled. "It's just the head of a woman; identifying features unknown. Unofficially, you were who I had in mind when I decided to add it. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," Saudia said, palming the coin and placing it in a pocket. "Although I didn't ever expect to ever be on any currency; inspired or otherwise."

"As one of the founding members of ADVENT, it would be idiotic not to have you included in some way," Jasmine said. "It only seemed right."

Saudia was somewhat amused by that. Even in EXALT she'd never really planned on doing anything like putting herself on money. If Jasmine had wanted to be accurate, putting the Commander on it would be more accurate, since he was the one who'd started all of this. But he'd also likely be just as satisfied either way. "I won't complain," she said. "So what is the last one?"

"A little project I've wanted to implement for some time," Jasmine said with a smile. "As long as we're redoing the entire economy, I wanted to make it a little safer. That," she pointed at the final document. "Imposes some additional regulations on how banks store financial data and transactions. It essentially mandates a certain level of security on them, and that they have to improve their standards if their current encryption is not sufficient, or a more effective method is developed. While most are up to standards for now, the goal is to ensure that they are kept to the highest possible standard, and there are too many that won't do something until a breach happens, and I don't consider that acceptable."

"It seems like a good idea," Saudia said with a nod. "Good work. I look forward to seeing this put into practice."

"Appreciated, Chancellor," she said, pulling back the file. "If nothing else, this will be an interesting experiment."

---

Intha, Vitakar

All things considered, the plan was going well. Nartha had played his role well, and helped the Zararch remove some of the lesser dissidents and troublemakers, while misdirecting the ones who were actually who he considered useful. Sometimes he let them know, sometimes he didn't. But his time on the planet was going to end soon, and he needed to firmly establish plans for moving forward.

The good news was that the Nulorian seemed to want to speak. He'd received a string of coordinates and a time, and nothing else through the communication link he'd established. Fair enough. By now they were probably aware that someone was slowing down the Zararch here, and he was the obvious candidate.

He doubted they would fully trust them, but he didn't need that right now. All he needed was an ally, and in the meantime, Sareech was proving to be an exceptional ally in figuring out how to use the Aui'Vitakar. At the moment she'd kept much of what he'd shared with her to herself, but was making some small moves, particularly on Vienneth, which had quite curiously been killed the moment it had been introduced.

That had confirmed that there was indeed something there that the Ethereals did not want discovered. Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to come away with much on his end, and everything related to that planet was classified. That being said, he was of a high enough rank to view it…provided he had the Zar'Chon's permission.

He hadn't come up with a reason to view it that wasn't suspicious.

He might have to fabricate a reason to visit the planet himself. Perhaps he could say that one of the Nulorian he'd interrogated had mentioned there was a base there. Although he'd likely need proof for it to be credible, because the Zar'Chon was likely not going to just let him go if he was trying to keep something quiet.

However, he was following the actual reports from the war itself and things were not looking good for Earth. Japan had fallen and America was also slowly being conquered, and to make matters worse, it seemed ADVENT was taking advantage and capturing previously neutral countries. While he couldn't exactly blame them, he wasn't exactly comfortable with what was happening.

Then there was the new Ethereal, Caelior, who made the Battlemaster look weak by comparison. The Nulorian were going to either find that very useful, or very terrifying. Likely both. It didn't bode well at all for their chances going forward, but there wasn't much of a choice. They still had a chance, however slim.

Nartha finished his report to the Zar'Chon, with an addendum that he'd be investigating further in the Borelian Expanse, which would provide adequate cover to meet with the Nulorian, and buy him a few days. He sincerely hoped that they wouldn't kill him if they decided he wasn't trustworthy enough.

They were terrorists, after all.

---

Russia, Center of ADVENT Engineering and Development

Saudia was very interested to see what Feng and Ophelia had come up with since the last time she'd visited. Given that they apparently had some new developments to share, she was hoping to be as impressed as last time. Hopefully they wouldn't disappoint.

She stepped into the main wing of the Robotics Division, where Feng had wanted to show her something relating to the MDU project. At least she assumed it was related, but she wasn't quite sure just how much more the MDUs could be improved. Which meant this was likely a new project utilizing similar concepts.

The room was fairly loud, and there were quite a few engineers working and testing various systems, or were welding or constructing additional units. But she did see Feng and Ophelia at the far end, and made her way towards them. Feng gave her a nod of greeting as she approached. "Chancellor, thank you for coming."

"You said you had made progress," she answered. "I'm curious what you've done."

"Of course," he smiled proudly. "Outside of my work on the Flak Towers and Trench designs Commander Christiaens asked me to complete, we had made progress in multiple projects. The latest of which is before you."

He gestured before him to the machine before them. It reached to about her waist, and to her eyes, looked like a massive machine gun barrel attached to a platform with treads in place of wheels. It was appropriately armored, and the barrel was on some kind of swivel, and it appeared rather intimidating. "What is this?" She asked. "A portable turret?"

"Not exactly," Ophelia answered, stepping forward. "The MDU fulfills its role exceptionally well. But it's expensive and has limited mobility in enclosed areas. We wanted to create a similarly robotic enemy to fill that role; one that is much cheaper and can be easily mobile in enclosed areas. This is the result, the Super Heavy Infantry Vehicle, internally known as the SHIV."

Saudia cocked her head at the machine. "No lasers?"

"The processor isn't as large or advanced as the ones in the MDU," Ophelia explained. "But the AI is still sophisticated enough to be extremely dangerous, even at longer ranges. The role isn't as a precise weapon like the MDU, but it would perform more defensive tasks which would be dangerous to our own soldiers. A team of SHIVs could effectively suppress an alien force which would allow our soldiers to reposition, advance, or retreat with far less danger."

"Good," Saudia nodded. "And these are gauss weapons I presume?"

"Correct," Feng stated, also stepping forward. "And we have designed the SHIVs with the intention of being adaptable to specific terrains or scenarios," He knelt down by the SHIV. "We have this one using treads, which is more appropriate for more rough terrain that would be found in trenches or a typical battlefield. However, these can be easily swapped out for traditional wheels for locomotion."

"In addition to that, there are multiple modes the SHIV can be put into," Ophelia said, holding a tablet into her hand and motioning Saudia over. "Mobile and Entrenched. Putting it into the 'Entrenched' mode does this." She pressed several buttons, there was an audible locking sound, and four smaller legs extended from the sides, then were planted on the floor. "All SHIVs have 360 mobility in both positons," Ophelia continued. "However in this position, firepower will be more stable and accurate since more power can be devoted to targeting."

"Can I see that?" Saudia asked, and Ophelia gave her the tablet controlling the SHIV. There were quite a few additional sensors on it, and the main image was of the SHIV facing them, all of them showing up as red blimps, which she assumed was from heat sensors.

"How is the power consumption?" She asked.

"Twelve hours without any kind of recharge," Feng answered, walking back towards her. "Batteries for it take approximately one hour to recharge, and can be replaced easily. We attempted to have a system of continuous battery replacement, but there simply wasn't room to accommodate it."

"That should be sufficient," Saudia nodded, already rather happy with the machine. "Well done. These are ready for deployment?"

"Yes, at your command," Feng confirmed.

"Put them into production," Saudia ordered. "And be sure to designate some for the Peacekeepers. They could use a machine like this."

"Excellent," Feng said, and began walking to what he wanted to show her next, which was out of the Robotics Wing. "We've been puzzling out how best to improve the Shieldbearer Armor," he continued as they walked in the hallway. "The initial concept is sound, but putting it into practice is difficult. We are not yet able to develop reliable kinetic shielding, and the magnetic repellent was only effective against traditional ballistics."

"Have you solved this problem then?" Saudia asked as they rounded a corner.

"To an extent," Feng admitted. "The issue is that we still have not developed proper plasma weapons, and are relying largely on simulations from data gathered in the field. XCOM has been instrumental in helping us in this project, since they do have one plasma weapon to test with."

"To put it bluntly," Ophelia said. "We think we have a way to protect against plasma fire."

Saudia blinked. "As in stop it entirely?"

"In theory, yes," Feng clarified. "In practice, it would at minimum reduce the overall danger of the plasma burst itself." He motioned them into another room which actually looked like a room for testing weapons, and in the range was a suited Shieldbearer. The armor was slightly bulkier than the previous iteration, and there was some built-in pack attached to the armor.

"There had been research into plasma before the war," Ophelia said as they stood in front of the Shieldbearer. "While the alien application is far more advanced, the principles remain the same, and thus, it has many of the same vulnerabilities. Plasma, Chancellor, is highly influenced by magnetism as it is an ionized gas. Without boring you with the physics, the best defense is the utilization of powerful magnetic fields."

"Can that really be powerful enough to repel plasma?" Saudia asked skeptically.

"Yes," Feng nodded. "A strong enough magnetic field should, in theory, completely deter plasma, or at the very minimum negate its overall damage. And that is what the new Shieldbearer accomplishes." He motioned to the Shieldbearer who pressed a button on his armor and a short antenna shot up from the back of his armor. A few seconds later he was surrounded by a visible field that distorted the image of him.

"I would fire some plasma weapons to prove this works," Feng sighed. "Unfortunately, we are only capable of producing small and weak bursts, which while helpful, I'm hesitant to class as appropriate field tests. However, XCOM has confirmed that it does perform as intended, and I doubt they would lie."

"The aliens rely on plasma weaponry," Saudia said slowly. "This could change the entire war. Their weaponry would be useless."

"Don't get too excited yet," Ophelia grunted, although she seemed rather pleased. "One, this hasn't been field-tested. And two, the power drain from this is extreme. The longest it has lasted is ten minutes, more or less, before it quit altogether, and we don't know how it would stand against sustained plasma fire. The energy issue is the biggest hurdle, and that can hopefully be resolved when we figure out elerium."

"Still," Saudia said in amazement. "That can be worked around. We can supply the power right now. I assume you've made non-Shieldbearer emplacements which perform the same function?"

"Of course," Feng said. "But they have a fairly small range, and take some time to set up. But those could be protected and they don't require exotic resources to be created. And I have taken the liberty of ordering several thousand already to be sent to America and Korea. I assumed you would want more, but that will require your authorization."

Saudia snorted. "I should sign an order not to need my approval for certain tasks. Like providing equipment that negates plasma weapons."

"Now, there is one final thing," Feng said, turning on his heel and walking out. "You recall the last time I was designing a fast-response troop transport. The good news is that I was able to construct the proof-of-concept without much issue."

More excellent news. "You solved the propulsion systems?" She asked. "I believe you said that was an issue."

"Yes, though it wasn't as difficult as I had feared," Feng explained as they reached a massive hangar. "Now that we have enough intact UFOs, it was a matter of reverse-engineering the systems and applying them elsewhere. The larger problem was finding a power source to temporarily substitute in place of elerium."

"Did you?" She asked.

"Yes, but as I said, this is only to show that it works," he clarified. "Alien propulsion systems are simply impossible to use practically without elerium, but when we do solve it, we will be able to deploy these dropships immediately." He pointed to a fully constructed ADVENT dropship, in all it's uniquely designed glory.

It still seemed an odd design to her, but she assumed it was more due to incorporating the anti-grav mechanisms than anything else. The four 'legs' of the craft were likely the main means of propulsion, and probably a few stabilizing mechanisms were on the underside of the craft itself. It was still pretty small, but she could see it being useful for quick deployments or reinforcing certain areas.

"Start it up!" Feng called, and the room was suddenly filled with a low hum from the dropship and after a few seconds, it started rising, the air underneath the legs being completely distorted and tinted red from the anti-grav effects. There were similar effects under the main body of the craft itself, and after the legs shifted to a horizontal position, it shot forward and flew around the expansive hangar.

Saudia was impressed how quickly it could speed up and slow to a complete halt within seconds, and after a few more minutes of demonstrations, it shifted back into a landed position. As it settled on the ground, Saudia nodded approvingly. "For a proof of concept, I would say it passed. But it drains too much power to be deployed?"

"Unfortunately," Feng confirmed. "It can last nearly a half hour, but none beyond that. Clearly not feasible for actual usage, but it will be ready once elerium has been fully researched and ready to be used.

"I'll have Munju and Tygan bump that up on their priority list," Saudia promised. "Another job well done."

"I would like to see the alien's faces when they realize plasma doesn't work quite as well," Ophelia said with a grim smile. "That would be entertaining."

---

Switzerland, Construction Fields

Saudia had never really appreciated just how secure Switzerland truly was before arriving. Once she'd realized that the country was an interlinked fortress, it hadn't been a hard call to decide that it was going to be the official capital of ADVENT, although pretty much everyone she'd appointed in a military position had suggested the same thing.

It was also the place where Commander Christiaens had decided to test out potential tactics, structures, and equipment before deciding to actually deploy or utilize them. She'd essentially turned much of the country into a mixture of a testing ground and training area. And there was quite a bit to see here.

Right now both of them were walking through a small trench fortification, which gave her a much better idea of what Laura had said when she'd explained that she wanted to bring trench warfare back as an actual tactic. Saudia had been surprised to say the least, but Laura had said the concept was sound, and it would give them a much better chance to defend cities than only relying on barricades.

"The aliens are bad at open warfare," Laura had said. "They don't have any useful strategies aside from charging an open field and praying they live to find cover. Then they become dangerous. Several lines of trenches in front of any city will turn any charge into a massacre."

She'd seen an obvious flaw then. "And what happens when there isn't an open space in front of the city?"

"Then we clear out the area and make one," she answered evenly. "Our strategies aren't good enough right now, Chancellor, we need to adapt and pull out every trick we can."

The stories of trench warfare were horrific, and despite their use, Saudia wasn't keen on putting soldiers through that, but it had admittedly been at a time when conditions were much worse and technology nowhere what it was today. Laura had said that there were obvious places for improvement, and she appeared to have followed through on that.

To start with, the actual digging of the trench wasn't done with crude shovels or by hand anymore. Laura had said it still could be, but with access to modern construction equipment, there wasn't a need. The exact depth of the trench was seven feet, without counting the steel barricades placed along the edge of the trench facing outward, with the ground slanted upward for soldiers to move up to shoot out of. Along the short barricade were openings for soldiers to shoot through, while lessening the chance of getting hit in return. The width was seven feet, and on the ground there were ridged steel slabs perfectly cut to fit into the trench that could be cleaned, which made the trench ultimately more sanitary and safe.

Every ten feet there were what Laura described as 'Emplacements', which is to say, small armored bunkers that had an M2 Browning deployed within. It was just high enough where the barrel reached a few inches off the ground, but there was enough room in the bunker to aim it in multiple directions. While obvious targets, they did give some more stationary firepower to the defensive line.

"There are designated ammo and medical stockpiles every twenty-five feet," Laura explained as they continued walking. "Nothing fancy, just cut-out sections of the trench, but they are always available and can be resupplied from trench lines further back." Unlike most of the trench she was in, this one had an armored cover tall enough that she could almost stand up in it. There was some basic lighting, stacks of ammo boxes, and med-kits.

That was another improvement Laura had ordered. There was intermittent lighting throughout the trenches, that would be directly connected to the city. It ran along the ground level of the trench, and the floor was also lit well.

"This is something that can be added should the aliens begin to use shelling or gas weaponry," Laura said as they came to a new section. It was identical in function to where they'd been previously, but instead of the short barricade in front that allowed soldiers to shoot out of it, a metal ceiling extended over the entire trench and rested on the other side. It wasn't fancy and more like fitting a particular piece together than something sturdy, but it provided more protection than open air. "The basic design of the trench allows armoring if needed," Laura continued. "It will get stifling and uncomfortable, which is the downside, but it's easy to set up and take down, and will protect against bombardments to a degree."

"You could integrate a point-laser system to shoot down incoming munitions," Saudia noted. "That could also negate the problem."

"Agreed, but that's not something that could be built easily," Laura amended. "For the larger cities, absolutely. But for smaller ones it's not justified in terms of resource cost."

"Fair," Saudia nodded as they finished walking through the armored trench, and exited above ground where both of them overlooked the long trench. "I'm impressed. You made significant improvements to the design here."

"It needed to happen," Laura said slowly. "I wouldn't think of reviving them if there weren't improvements to be made. The aliens themselves don't have many good counters to this. They seem to lack any sort of heavy vehicles outside of the Sectopod, and that moves slowly enough where we can destroy it before it does much damage." She stretched her hand out, illustrating the trench line. "At the very back we can place our conventional tanks and artillery to fire at the aliens. Their systems are good, but even they have to have limits. We've also not seen their aircraft have any kind of bombers, which negates that threat."

The more Saudia thought about it, the more there seemed to be some holes in the alien military. They appeared to be largely infantry-based, which while varied, were also much easier to kill. They didn't have many military vehicles, outside of the Sectopod and Cyberdisk, the latter of which didn't seem to fill the role of a conventional tank.

They did appear to have some aquatic capabilities, strangely enough, but they didn't seem to have any artillery whatsoever. Then there were the odd gaps in the air force. There were no bombers as Laura had noted, and no indication there was anything larger than a transport that was used regularly. They clearly had the capability to create larger ships, as the alien Dreadnought had shown, but ever since then there hadn't been anything close to that size. She suspected it was because they had gotten used to a different form of warfare, or maybe believed psionics could substitute for anything.

But it all seemed very…conventional. She didn't know a better way to describe it. Which made her wonder just how much of the alien technology was being hidden from them. Surely they had to have more than billions of soldiers?

Right?

She did sincerely hope she was wrong, but another part of her would be sorely disappointed if the aliens did turn out to be that unimaginative. "And all of this will be covered by the Flak Towers," Laura continued. "Those will definitely take the most fire, but I've been sure to have them be as structurally sound as possible."

"I would incorporate Feng and Ophelia's plasma dissipaters into them," Saudia suggested as they walked to the massive tower. "That would negate almost all of the damage at this point."

"For future iterations," Laura agreed. "But for now these will hold up well. This way, Chancellor." Saudia followed her into the first floor of the eight-story tower. The sheer amount of firepower on display was something Saudia found very satisfying. In front of every opening was an M2 Browning or a stationary weapon of similar power. Ammo boxes were stockpiled in quartered sections throughout the entire open floor. In the center was the spiral staircase leading up. And in the middle of the staircase was a fireman's pole which extended from the top, a contingency in case the stairs were destroyed or otherwise blocked.

"Did you think about the proposal Munju had?" Saudia asked as they climbed.

"Cloning?" Laura said, somewhat distastefully. "Yes, somewhat. I can't deny that it would be useful if they can make it work. But…I'm not exactly thrilled with the idea of growing Humans just to send them to fight in a war. The concept itself is personally unsettling to me, so I'm not sure I'm the one best to answer the question. If you decide to approve it, I'll use them to the best of my ability."

"And that's all you should need to do," Saudia nodded. "But that is something that does have to be decided sooner than later. If you have objections, I'd want to know now."

"That depends on your plan for them," Laura said slowly, stopping and looking back at Saudia. "Would they have a place in ADVENT besides being soldiers?"

"To a degree," Saudia said. "Those aspects haven't been fully discussed. This is more about the concept itself."

"Well, that ties into how I feel about it," Laura pointed out. "I suppose my question is if they would be treated as Humans or not?"

"That is the goal," Saudia shrugged. "Does that answer your question?"

Laura looked at her for a few moments. "For now, Chancellor. I need to think about it some more. Besides, there is still more to show you." They reached what Saudia believed was the fourth floor, which was almost identical to the first floor, except that there were several AA weapons instead of stationary machine guns.

"Each floor can be locked down in case the lower ones are under attack." Laura said, pointing to a lever on the floor near where the staircase had arrived. She pulled it, and the metal sheets built into the floor slid out, completely covering the entrance. "Useful," Saudia nodded as Laura retracted the covering. "Continue."

They proceeded further up, and the higher they went, the more weapons were specifically anti-air, and there were now a decent number of precision laser weapons in addition to gauss defenses. They finally arrived at the top, where almost every single available space had a massive AA turret, and on each of the corners was a heavy precision laser to further augment the death trap that was the Flak Tower.

"I'd hate to be the first UFO that tries to run this," Saudia said approvingly, clasping her hands behind her back as she overlooked the landscape. "I believe we just might be ready for when the aliens attack next. No more easy victories for them."

"We just have to make sure they don't get control of these towers," Laura noted ruefully. "I don't fancy our chances if we end up on the wrong side of these guns."

"I assume you have a plan for if we do have to retreat from them?" Saudia asked.

"A crude one, but it should do the job if needed," Laura explained. "There are several contingency explosives on the first, forth, and seventh levels that can be deployed if we're going to lose the towers, which can be detonated remotely after setting them up. There isn't much of a chance of the explosives going off accidentally since they aren't primed, and it's better than having an integrated self-destruct system the aliens might accidentally exploit."

"Good planning," Saudia nodded approvingly. "Better to have contingencies in place. I don't consider it likely that we will never lose a Tower."

"Still," Laura said, looking away. "I'd prefer to avoid that contingency."

Saudia smiled grimly. "Well, we'll have to be sure not to lose them then."

---

Undisclosed Location, United States of America

Saudia had wondered what it was like to be a psion. The idea itself was alien to her, and the few discussions she'd had with psions had been…limited. Well, those had been limited to Patricia and the Commander, both of whom had generally been focused on other topics. Still, the power to dominate the minds of others was one she wouldn't mind.

Out of curiosity, she'd wondered if she could be psionically awakened as well, and the standardized test to determine sensitivity had come back negative. A shame, but perhaps it was for the best. She'd prefer not to go around with a bomb in her head, or have any kind of mental conditioning, both of which she knew the Commander would require, especially for her.

But the ADVENT Psionic Research, Investigation, Enhancement, Specialization and Training Program, shortened to PRIEST, could very well be the most important weapon in this war against the aliens. The Ethereals might not have put much effort into developing conventional warfare, but with psions as powerful as they had, they didn't necessarily need to.

The research XCOM had shared with them seemed to indicate that Humans weren't as psionically capable as Ethereals, but equal with or surpassing most Sectoids. Psions on the level of Patricia or the Furies appeared to be rare, but even the weaker ones were more than capable of destroying conventional alien forces. It was ironic that in her quest to give EXALT psions, they had ended up giving XCOM one of their greatest weapons in the Furies.

At least something good had come out of that program. A shame Subject Four…Durand, was it? Well, it was a shame she'd died. Her power had been extraordinary.

"Chancellor?" Saudia turned away from the psionic pod she'd been looking at to see the Director of the PRIEST Program, Dr. Akilah Kettani, one of the leading neuroscientists in the world. As there weren't any experts outside of XCOM in the field of psionics, she'd had to make do. If there was anyone who could puzzle out how best to figure out the phenomenon, it would be an expert on the brain itself.

"Dr. Kettani," she greeted. "It looks like you have everything up and running."

"Quite, Chancellor," he agreed with a smile. "The next step is finding appropriate candidates for awakening. I know that the military is currently cycling through their forces, but I believe we should also begin expanding to civilian populations immediately."

"You've mentioned this," Saudia said as they began to walk down the corridor. "I'm not convinced that it would be a good idea to pair civilians with soldiers quite yet; unless of course the number of psions we acquire is too small to be useful."

"You have the final say, but I would advise against that," Kettani said, his ice-blue eyes looking pointedly at her. "If my calculations are correct, there is a sizable portion of the Human population that is psionically sensitive, and the majority of Humans are not currently serving. Psions are not soldiers and shouldn't be treated exactly like them; civilians can learn, and they can be useful."

Saudia raised an eyebrow. "When you say a sizable portion, what does that translate to?"

Kettani heisted, glancing up for a few seconds. "Right now I am only going by the number of psions that have been in XCOM, but I will not know for sure without a far larger sample size. However, given that XCOM has had a minimum of one hundred soldiers, and at least ten of those have been psions, that implies that five to fifteen percent of the Human population is at least capable of minimal psionic manipulation.

Saudia immediately tried to run some numbers in her head. There were about seven and a half billion people on the planet, just five percent of that would be… "Three hundred and eighty million, minimum," Kettani said, anticipating her calculations. "Greater percentiles are over one billion. If even a fraction of those are awakened, it might be enough to overwhelm an Ethereal."

Saudia nodded numbly. She'd believed that there would be only a few who could be awakened, maybe thousands at most. But if Kettani was correct, that would do more than give them a fighting chance, it might even turn the war in their favor. "That being said, this is still unknown," Kettani cautioned as they entered another brightly lit room. "But I'm confident that there are more than enough potential psions to be awakened."

"You have my authorization to proceed with recruitment," Saudia said firmly. "And of course be sure that if there are civilians who join…that they understand the conditions and risks. I don't want unwilling psions in my army."

"Of course," Kettani nodded as he guided her over to a table with a curious device resting on it. It looked like one end was a handle, which was connected to a block of equal width, possibly a power source, and two prongs extended upwards, angling towards each other but not meeting.

"Is this a weapon?" She asked, picking up the strange device. It definitely looked alien in origin, and not something she was even aware was being developed.

"Not exactly," Kettani said, frowning as he looked at the weapon, reaching over and hitting a switch. Saudia almost jumped as a small ball of purple energy converged in the center of the two prongs. It had to be psionic in origin, but she didn't know how that was possible.

"This was something XCOM gave to us," Kettani explained. "They referred to it as a 'Training Amp" for newer psions, or those of lesser power. This is technically a misnomer though, as for one, from what I understand, it acts more as a focus than an actual amplification of power, and second, that isn't actually psionic energy."

Saudia glanced at him. "Then what is it?"

Kettani furrowed his brow. "I don't know. XCOM didn't explain, and even though they provided the full schematics…no one I've shown it to has been able to comprehend how this thing actually works. We can assemble it, and the power source comes from an elerium crystal specially treated with psionics…but how this actually produces the result, I haven't been able to puzzle out."

Saudia looked back at the device, which glowed brightly. "XCOM must have been able to figure it out."

Kettani looked down at the amp as she turned it off. "I'm not so sure. But it's irrelevant. They appear to work and will supposedly help with training."

"And speaking of which," Saudia said, taking the opportunity to change the subject. "How is that going to be handled?"

"In the beginning XCOM has promised to assist with the first generation of psions," Kettani explained as they walked over to a window which overlooked a white room the size of a gym, which she assumed would be used for training. "I believe they want to maintain a presence here permanently, if for no other reason than they get their pick of psions."

Saudia pursed her lips. "That I am not surprised at." It had been another condition the Commander had added to approving the PRIEST Program, XCOM had the authority to select certain psions for XCOM and they had to turn them over. It was clearly a means of ensuring that ADVENT didn't have the most powerful psions, but she didn't consider it worth challenging. The Commander had promised not to abuse that agreement too much, but Saudia wasn't holding her breath.

"XCOM identified four major disciplines of psionic power," Kettani continued. "Offensive, Defensive, Telekinesis, and Telepathy. The XCOM Psion Trask has said that it's possible for a psion to master multiple disciplines, but that is exceedingly difficult and rare, and each one will naturally gravitate towards the one they are most inclined towards. Training regimes will be built around these disciplines, and more can be developed for hybrid specializations in the future."

"That takes care of that," Saudia said, resting her chin on her hand as she thought. "The larger question is determining how powerful each psion is. Not all are equal, and there needs to be a way of determining weaker psions from stronger ones."

"No worries there, Chancellor," Kettani assured her, placing a tablet in her hand. "That has already been solved. The good news is that psionic potential is static, cannot be changed, and is easily determined. Measuring it was a rather exciting development as we needed to create the unit of measurement ourselves, as there is no baseline of power that is equivalent. As Patricia Trask was the first known Human psion, the unit of measurement we created is designated the Trask."

Trask. That was not going to be a context that Saudia was going to get used to quickly, but it did make sense that the unit designating psionic power would be named after her. Seeing as how many units of measurement were named after people in the sciences, it seemed only fair. "I wonder if she approves," Saudia wondered aloud. "I somehow doubt it was her idea."

"She seemed rather indifferent," Kettani shrugged. "But she did consider it an honor. Unless you want the scientifically complex version as to how much a Trask is worth, I can simply explain the system itself."

"I would prefer that," Saudia said.

"It's actually simple," Kettani said, motioning to her tablet where there were a list of ranks and names. "The Trask Scale goes from one to one hundred, although it could be expanded, but the chances of a psion exceeding one hundred Trasks is nearly impossible. One is very weak, one hundred is exceptionally strong. A simple format."

He nodded towards the list she was reading. "There are five ranks of psionic power; a psion who is in the range of one to twenty Trasks is Awakened; twenty-one to forty is an Adept; forty-one to sixty is a Psion proper; sixty-one to eighty is a Magus; and eighty-one to one hundred is a Leviathan."

"And the ranks are permanent?" Saudia said, looking up to clarify.

"Yes," Kettani confirmed. "The Trask level of a psion cannot be changed. An Adept will always be an Adept. Psionic sensitivity is genetic, or at least all current research indicates that it is, and there is no research right now into genetic modification to increase psionic sensitivity, although that is certainly possible."

That was very useful, and would make it much easier to decide how best to use psions in combat. "I'm curious," Saudia said. "Did Patricia score well?"

"She is an eighty-four on the Trask Scale," Kettani said with a smile. "The chances of another psion with her raw power is slim, but possible. I suspect only an Ethereal would outclass a Leviathan-Rank psion."

Saudia was wondering what an Offensive Leviathan would look like, or even a Telekinetic Leviathan. Probably something like Caelior. For that matter, she wondered where he would place on this chart.

Likely exceed it. If there was one thing the Ethereals specialized in, it was psionic enhancement. "Excellent work," she said. "How long before we can expect psionic soldiers?"

"Several months, minimum," Kettani said flatly, running a hand through his short hair. "We first have to find suitable candidates, awaken them, and then train them so they aren't completely useless. But after the initial start-up period, we should fall into a pattern where batches can be deployed regularly. I will also add that the more facilities for training, the faster it will go, and the larger the batches."

"Send over what you believe would be ideal," Saudia ordered. "I'll be sure you get what you need. The outcome of the war could rest on this; and I will not throw this opportunity away."

"Then I will begin recruitment," he said, turning to look out into the empty training area. "No time to waste."

---

New York, Peacekeeper Command

Saudia wouldn't have expected that the visit to Stein's headquarters would be the most relaxing part of her trip, but it was. Stein had simply suggested that they have lunch and go over whatever they needed to discuss, and had added in a deadpan voice "You're probably tired of people walking around and showing you stuff." Which wasn't technically true, but it had been an exhausting week, even by her standards.

"Cloning," Stein commented thoughtfully as Saudia finished explaining the newest developments in the realms of science. "Interesting. People are squeamish about the subject for some reason."

"And I suppose you're not," Saudia commented ruefully as she ate her salad. "I'm somehow not surprised."

"There isn't a reason to be," Stein said neutrally. "The concept is good. It will allow us a disposable army while we can save our actual soldiers for missions of actual importance."

Saudia frowned. "Considering that they will likely take several years at minimum to grow, I'm not in favor of throwing them away. This would not be a small investment."

Stein snorted. "Bad phrasing, what I should have said was that will allow us to use them for riskier or dangerous assignments; ones that we'd be hesitant to sacrifice actual Humans for."

Hm. Saudia wasn't exactly pleased Stein had immediately gone the whole 'clone equals not human' route. "If we do this, the clones will likely be just as functional as us. There isn't much of a point in growing more Humans only to discard them as lesser beings," she said. "Otherwise we might as well just build drones."

Stein took a sip of water, looking at her for a few long seconds. "Interesting. I wouldn't have expected you to be sentimental about the topic. You would equate a natural-born human with one grown in a tank?"

"If there wasn't a difference, then yes," Saudia said. "I don't see a reason not to."

"Aside from the fact that one was born as the result of a mother and father, and another was grown like a plant?" Stein countered. "The differences may be hidden, but arguing that clones are the same as actual people is not correct in the slightest. And really Saudia, what is the point of growing an entire army if not to save Human lives? Because when it comes down to it, if given the choice between saving a Human and saving a clone, we save the Human every time. That is what I, and most other people would do. Good on you for giving them consideration, but we both know a clone army would ultimately be a means to an end."

"Obviously," Saudia said. "However, that doesn't mean we have to be frivolous about it."

"Of course not," Stein nodded. "Another resource to be managed correctly. However, I'm more interested in where the PRIEST Program is going. In fact, I have a request."

Saudia waited. "Go on."

"I want some psions of my own," Stein said, resting her arms on the table. "And I want to install them as justices. After we develop a stronger means of conditioning beyond a bomb in their head, of course."

"Judges, you mean?" Saudia asked. "You want psions as judges?"

"Both are interchangeable, you understand the request," Stein sighed exasperatedly. "I've been thinking about this quite a bit. We're ultimately relying on the same standards of trial and judgement as we always have, and that works very well for some cases. Much of my work removing these troublesome dissidents is a simple matter of recovering evidence from their phones or internet posts, and passing judgement."

She took a breath. "But it's not perfect. Forensic evidence has its own set of problems, even if it is useful, and there are far too many cases everyday where it's a matter of one person's word against another, and then throwing the biases of a judge or jury into it."

"We don't have juries anymore," Saudia reminded her.

"The point is that there are too many instances where criminals walk free because there isn't enough evidence," Stein said. "Or worse, are wrongly convicted. The PRIEST Program can get rid of the uncertainty once and for all. No more unanswered questions. No more wrongful convictions. No more criminals walking free. Only clear and undisputed justice."

She took another long sip of water, then refocused on Saudia, her eyes intense. "I am personally quite sick of people deriding my work just because I do my fucking job. 'I'm too harsh on protesters,' 'I'm a violent sadist who gets off on shooting people,' 'I'm only your loyal attack dog getting rid of your enemies,' I can deal with all that idiotic crap, but what I hate is when people say I'm deliberately throwing innocent people in jail, or doing it for no reason at all."

Her hand around her glass was clenched so tight Saudia wondered if she'd break it. "I want to silence those insults once and for all," she growled. "Let the psions judge the accused, and there will be no disputing what is true or false. Kyong was right when we spoke; I need to do more to change the minds of people. I have enemies who will never change, but I should do what I can to ensure that people who are watching know all I'm doing is my job. If there are people who have been wrongly convicted, I want them freed, and then I want to go after the people who've eluded justice for decades. This time they won't escape it."

Saudia was silent for a few moments. "If there were some way to ensure the psion couldn't lie, then I agree with this. But not before that."

"Understandable," Stein nodded. "That's all I wanted to hear. But if the numbers you were giving on the PRIEST Program are anything close to what you were describing…not developing any kind of Manchurian Program or similar conditioning will backfire. We both know how powerful they could be, and we should risk it on this scale."

"I agree," Saudia said. "But for now we have to take every advantage we got."

"Well, the future doesn't look quite as grim," Stein commented. "The question is what the aliens have been doing in the meantime."

"Hopefully nothing important," Saudia said. "But I somehow don't think we're going to be that lucky."

Stein's lips were set in a faint grin. "There isn't luck in war, Chancellor, there is only intelligence and strategy. And I think in that respect, we can match them."

"I suppose we'll find out soon," Saudia said, looking out to where Peacekeepers were patrolling. "It is only a matter of time before the storm breaks again."