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.

30. Downfall

Downfall

---

Blacksite 004: "Sanctuary" – Unknown

11/23/2016 – 9:16 A.M.

If he had not been rather pleased to be out of ADVENT territory, he would have likely found Sana's reaction to him stepping into her Blacksite to be highly amusing. It had been brief, but he'd felt she had become legitimately afraid he was almost dead once he stepped in front of her. He didn't exactly look like the ideal healthy Ethereal, especially with the amount of blood and gore on his armor.

His appearance had been extremely unsettling to the few patients she had in her presence, and not even her calming aura was enough to fully override that. He'd simply nodded to her and she'd busied herself with wrapping up…whatever she was doing. He didn't know, nor did he particularly care right now. It took some time to get fully out of his armor, but he was out of it in time for her when she came in.

"What happened?" She'd asked.

"A miscalculation." No reason to lie to her. "The Humans were cleverer than I'd anticipated. Trapped me in their territory for some time. It was not easy to escape."

She'd begun examining him, still glancing over to him. "How did you? And why are you here?"

That was a fair question. Normally, he wouldn't have bothered coming to be checked up on since he knew he wasn't seriously injured, but he had for a couple reasons. One was that he hadn't fought like that in some time, and wanted to ensure he was in good condition. The other was slightly…embarrassing…but Sana, nor most Ethereals, would really judge him. "Isomnum was the one who extracted me. The brief flight back was not ideal. I'd have preferred more pleasant company."

"Ah." Was all she'd said. "I see."

It was all she needed to say. The Battlemaster was well aware that the only person who Sana legitimately hated more was the Creator. Her and Isomnum were the only exception for the normally gentle Ethereal. Even Revelean and Fectorian she disagreed with on a professional level, though still respected them.

That opinion would not change if he told her of Isomnum's original plan for the city.

But he wouldn't unless asked. It had not happened, and would only widen the divides that existed within the Collective. He realized belatedly that ADVENT soldiers all had cameras on them. Which meant that not only would they know of the original plan, but they would also know who and what Isomnum is, and also that there were indeed disagreements and schisms in the Collective.

XCOM had likely been aware of this because of Aegis, but seeing as how ADVENT hadn't seemed like they'd had secret intelligence, he doubted they had shared all of it, or any to begin with. Of course it was a moot point. There wouldn't have been time to smash all of the cameras, but it was only going to be used as more, and he had to admit-legitimate, propaganda against them.

"Done," Sana said as she finished. "Minor bruising, but otherwise you're physically healthy. You are fatigued though, and your body clearly hasn't been through an ordeal like that in a while. I would advise rest for at least the next week. No returning to the battlefield."

He shook his head. "That is not up to me. If I feel it is necessary, I will go."

Sana had apparently predicted that, and was also predictably disapproving. "Of course you will. The very least you should do is have Fectorian repair your suit."

"That I will do," the Battlemaster promised. "I won't return until that is fixed. Too risky otherwise." He picked up a datapad and began the likely unpleasant task of figuring out how to sort out the mess these attacks had caused.

"Battlemaster," a familiar voice greeted, and the Ethereal looked up to see the Zar'Chon walking in, professional as always, even if he was greeted with the sight of an unarmored Battlemaster, which he had almost certainly never seen before.

"Zar'Chon," he answered in return, setting down the datapad. "I presume you mean to update me on the current situation."

"On what I can," the Zar'Chon answered, raising his hand and a holographic list began scrolling on his palm. It was going too fast for even the Battlemaster to see, but he supposed that was what the implants were for. "The short version is that our situation is not what I would consider 'good'."

"Then clarify," the Battlemaster ordered.

"Of course," the Zar'Chon nodded. "There is some good news. The Second Guardian has reported that her advances into Alaska and Canada have been successful. Vancouver is still holding out, but I have requested additional Spectres to take it. Seattle has been largely reclaimed as well. And Quisilia has returned alive, so the incursion in Australia is handled."

The Battlemaster fixed the Zar'Chon with stare. With all that had happened, he had almost forgotten about that incident. "You sound almost surprised by that. What was learned? Did ADVENT attack there as well?"

"No," the Vitakarian scowled. "It wasn't ADVENT. Quisilia confirmed that to me. We didn't know who they were. They were definitely wielding more advanced weaponry than even XCOM. When Quisilia returned he was oddly reluctant to discuss it. He said it was imperative the two of you speak. But the situation there is contained for the moment."

That raised many questions, not the least of which being that if it wasn't the Humans, than who could it possibly be? He was aware of the inner galactic species, but highly doubted that they had more advanced technology, or had a presence on Earth at all. They would have detected it well before now. He would definitely need to figure out what was going on in Australia. If Quisilia didn't want to discuss it with the Zar'Chon, then…

An ugly thought entered his mind. There were only a few topics Quisilia would not share with his spymaster; that which related to internal Ethereal matters, the Synthesized, or the Sovereign Ones. Since there were no other Ethereals alive that would be fighting them, and the Sovereign Ones weren't on Earth, then could the Synthesized have possibly arisen?

They had found remnants of their technology in hidden places in the galaxy. It was not inconceivable that the Humans…or Collective, for that matter, had accidentally activated it. No matter what the explanation was, it was highly concerning. "Noted. What else has happened?"

"We are in danger of losing California, should the situation continue to deteriorate," the Zar'Chon finally said. "The initial train bombings destroyed much of our garrisons, even if they took the infrastructure with them. We suspect Patricia is in Los Angeles and Sacramento is also being spearheaded by another XCOM team with unexpected aggression."

As would be expected…except. "How is that possible?" He asked. "Aren't our soldiers being telepathically shielded?" While the Zar'Chon didn't know the full details, he was aware that there was an Ethereal who was providing telepathic assistance on the ground to negate threats like Patricia.

"Either he is distracted or he has been subverted," the Zar'Chon answered tactfully. "Either way, telepathy is still resulting in casualties in LA. Even in Sacramento we are receiving reports of telepathic attacks. It seems to be working against the telepath Priests, but most are transitioning to support roles, which are seemingly not affected."

The Overmind had either become much weaker or lazier if he was allowing Humans to be able to subvert him so easily. The entire reason he had requested such assistance was to be an answer to telepaths like Patricia. However, it appeared that wasn't the case. "And where else?"

"The Mexico offensive is…not going well," the Vitakarian admitted, pursing his lips. "The deployment of the Creator's Assassin was less effective than we'd hoped. Against ordinary soldiers in close quarters she is excellent, so the reports say, but the problem is that she is now fighting psions and is largely behind enemy lines. We are having difficulty breaking their trench lines. The Assassin has sustained heavy damage and is recovering now."

Disappointing news, but not entirely surprising. One psion, no matter how skilled, against other psions of a similar or greater power level would almost always lose against them. The problem was that she was quite clearly built for smaller and more surgical operations, not as an attachment on the battlefield.

He would have to make appropriate adjustments.

"Battlemaster, I would also request you recall the Hunter immediately," the Zar'Chon continued, now looking slightly irritated. "While the Creator's…soldiers…are powerful, I did not expect one to be a literal traitor."

"Explain."

"I will send you the recording," the Zar'Chon explained, looking at his holographic list, presumably to find it. "But upon the initial encounter, he essentially said he was 'going to kill whoever the fuck he wanted' as following orders was 'boring and predictable'. I am paraphrasing, but the point is that for the entire attack, he has been shooting at both allied and enemy targets. He's cost us dearly in resources in soldiers and turned the offensive in Busan into a mess."

The Battlemaster was silent for a moment. Another bad miscalculation, but he could not have anticipated that the insubordinate Hunter would be such a catastrophic traitor. Although perhaps that was the wrong word, but it was producing the same results. The Hunter would have to be punished severely for this. Possibly executed.

The Creator would not like that, of course, but he didn't especially care what she thought. If her pets disrupted his military operations, they weren't exempted from consequences. For all the faults of the Warlock, his fanaticism at least ensured he was loyal. "Now that you're back," the Zar'Chon continued. "We need to decide how to respond to this."

Indeed.

"The First Guardian will be sent to Sacramento," the Battlemaster said after some thought. "He will kill the XCOM squad currently causing issues. The Canadian and Alaskan offensive will receive reinforcements. The Mexico forces will be pulled back temporarily as well. If needed, we will take additional measures to ensure we don't lose California."

"And South Korea?"

"We will maintain the offensive for now," the Battlemaster said. "I will deal with the Hunter."

"And Patricia?"

"I will deal with Trask myself," the Battlemaster said, standing. "She cannot affect me."

"What additional measures do you mean?" The Zar'Chon suddenly asked. "More Spectres?"

"Initially, yes," the Battlemaster nodded. "And if those prove insufficient…request for enough Cleanser Ships to level their ground army. ADVENT has decided to escalate this conflict with psions and nuclear weapons, and in this case, we may respond in kind."

"Acknowledged," the Zar'Chon confirmed. "I would also suggest support and repair teams to Australia and Japan due to…ah, I forgot to mention that. ADVENT detonated two additional nuclear weapons above Japan and Australia. Our forces are completely disrupted."

Attempting to take advantage of their vulnerabilities before he made efforts to correct them. The Humans understood warfare exceptionally well. In the span of a few days they had crippled or attacked nearly all of the Collective's main installations on Earth. Impressive, and he couldn't bring himself to feel much anger towards them. They were simply fighting intelligently and competently.

However, they were not the only ones, and if they felt confident enough to escalate the war to this degree, he would happily oblige.

"Do that," he ordered. "How long is it estimated to repair everything?"

"Everything?" He frowned. "Critical systems within days. Military equipment and defenses, perhaps a week. Everything else likely two, and this is if we have as large a team as possible. ADVENT did this to disrupt us, so we can take our time in repairing it. They won't be attacking Japan, let alone Australia during this time."

"So order the teams to take their time and do it right," the Battlemaster confirmed with a nod. "In the meantime, we will end these attacks by ADVENT." He stood. "Dismissed, Zar'Chon, I will speak to you shortly. Now I need to speak to the Creator."

---

ADVENT Secure Diplomatic Site – Switzerland

11/23/2016 – 1:42 P.M.

Both China and ADVENT had agreed that, for the moment, it was best that the media and public not be aware of any potential alliance between the parties in the event that they couldn't come to an agreement. Saudia personally considered that unlikely; that China was willing to talk at all meant that they were planning to work on some level, though how much that would be was yet to be determined.

In the meantime, they were holding the talks in ADVENT's Secure Diplomatic Site, specially designed, isolated, and constructed to be out of the way and impossible to penetrate by any outside power, where high-level or extraordinarily sensitive diplomatic issues could be discussed without fear of exposure.

It was well stocked, furnished, and definitely the same quality as any building in the ADVENT HQ. The only difference was the far tighter security. The road itself was guarded by the Peacekeepers, and snipers watched the roads; ready and willing to kill stragglers or investigators who came too close. There had been several attempts by the media to investigate, but they had backed off when snipers had shot the expensive gear they were carrying.

No one was brave enough to go back, and they had correctly been smart enough not to actually report on it.

On top of the layers of physical security, it was also regularly swept for listening devices, electronic jammers, and dangerous substances. SHIVs patrolled on pre-determined routes and the basement not only contained a fully stocked armory, but a dozen MDUs to deploy in the event of an emergency.

It was also one of the first buildings to have a room specially designed for a Gateway, which would be essential for evacuation or reinforcements in such an event. It was a massive power draw, even with elerium cores, but it was what allowed the important figures in ADVENT to join in such sensitive diplomatic talks on such short notice.

Saudia had received a list of the people President Qin was bringing with him, which unsurprisingly contained his second in command in the Chinese Central Military Commission, who was effectively the leader of the military even if Qin was the Commander-in-chief, as well as his Minister of Defense and Chief of Joint Staff.

What was unsurprising was the presence of the Foreign Minister on the list, as such a diplomatic mission would need all the expertise he could gather. The final name had been a mild surprise, and somewhat amusing to her. Qin apparently felt comfortable bringing the Minister of State Security along as well. Perhaps there was a reason the head of Chinese intelligence was coming, but it seemed more of a move to unsettle her.

China had become used to having a large amount of influence in the old world. Such a move would have definitely been either a warning or threat, but China no longer had such power. Not truly. Which then begged the question of why they would even try such mind games. In any event, she could play at that game easily enough.

For herself, she had decided to have Commander Christiaens participate, as was the obvious choice, as well as Chief Diplomat Hassan. In addition to them, she'd also asked the Commander to participate, as XCOM needed to be involved in these talks, and Elizabeth as well. If he brought his own spymaster, she could certainly bring her own.

The final member she was including was the Prime Minister Sakata, or more accurately the Prime Minister in exile, of Japan. As this was his country, at least some members of the surviving government needed to be aware of the situation here. Given the history between Japan and China, this situation was darkly amusing.

But she needed to focus, as the Chinese delegation was now filing into the main meeting room where the negotiations were to take place. First came President Qin Yijung, who looked as composed as he had in their initial meeting, who was followed closely by General Cheng Zhen, Vice Chairman of the CNC, who was much older than the President himself with grey streaks in his blackened hair.

However, Yan An, the Minister of National Defense was clearly the oldest in the room. Saudia recalled his age to be sixty-two, and he certainly looked the part. The Chief of Joint Staff, Kong Qigang followed, not appearing to be especially pleased with the whole situation, but kept a firm face regardless.

Han Jie, the Minister of State Security himself followed, and of the group he stood out due to his lack of any hair, which Saudia found rather ironic for a spymaster. He clearly wasn't going to be easily forgotten, but he did have that same calculating look in his eyes she recognized in Elizabeth, and she noted him taking stock of everyone in the room.

Finally, Foreign Minister Xuan Wuying entered, looking as every diplomat should; friendly and like he wanted to be there. She didn't know how true that was, but this was the situation every diplomat wished for, even if it simultaneously frightened them. "Chancellor," President Qin greeted, extending a hand. "A pleasure to meet you in person."

"The feeling is mutual, Mr. President," Saudia replied evenly, taking the firm grip. "I hope our discussions are productive."

"Quite," he agreed, looking around at the other guests. Foreign Minister Xuan had already gone to greet Prime Minister Sakata and already the groups were forming around the respective mutual positions. Elizabeth was already chatting with the MSS Director, and both generals were conversing with Laura.

She figured it couldn't hurt to let everyone mingle some, as few as they were, before getting down to business. "Ah," Qin suddenly said, pursing his lips. "Commander. A…pleasure to meet you in person."

The Commander looked almost smug, but simply inclined his head. "I'm pleased China is considering rejoining the effort against the aliens."

"We haven't forgotten the true threat," Qin said evenly. "On that I can assure you."

"And I haven't forgotten that you like stunts like pulling out of the only anti-alien organization fighting because you didn't get your way," the Commander answered, just as evenly. "But I suppose all of us have our regrets."

That was not how she wanted this to go.

"The differences between XCOM and China, no matter how grievous at the time," she interrupted. "Do not matter now. China was hardly the only one who had issues with XCOM, Commander, as I'm sure you know."

"Indeed," the Commander gave a thin smile. "I do have to admire you following through on your word, disagree with it as I may. A government with a spine was somewhat rare."

"In retrospect, it might have been handled differently," Qin finally said. "The issue, Commander, was never your methods nor past, distasteful as some may find it, but your lack of willingness to communicate important information. Had we been aware of EXALT operations in our country, we would have happily assisted in destroying them."

The Commander's lip twitched. "To a certain degree, I agree. However, we had no way to know if your government was compromised by EXALT. Had we warned you, any moles you had would have sent warnings and we would have accomplished nothing."

"It is the actions of a rogue organization," Qin said slowly. "One which, at the time, answered to a higher authority. If not us directly, perhaps someone on the Council who you could trust. But as the Chancellor said, it is in the past. We are willing to overlook this incident if you are."

The Commander gave a smile. "I don't hold a grudge, as long as you're willing to assist us now. But our raid was certainly justified, even if you continue to disagree. I suspect that had I not done it, we may not be speaking right now."

Saudia kept her face completely neutral at that little jab. Funny, Commander, very funny.

"I believe we should get started," she said, as everyone began moving to their seats. "There is an operation still going on and time is of the essence." All of them were soon seated on the ornate glossy wood table, ADVENT representatives on one side, and Chinese on the other. She sat at the end, with the President seated right beside her left, and the Commander on her right.

"We're all aware of why we are here," Saudia began. "Right now there are soldiers dying to retake America. Commander Christiaens and the Commander of XCOM believe this important enough to focus their attention on instead of the battles raging now. Mr. President, please state the reason for this meeting."

"Certainly, Chancellor," he nodded towards her. "Your soldiers are to be commended, Commander Christiaens, as are any who fight against the alien threat. We have kept to ourselves for a variety of reasons, but ultimately, this is a war even we cannot stay out of. The Communist Party does not believe it is beneficial for either China or ADVENT to have an adversarial relationship with the other. We are different, yet that does not mean we are unwilling to work together."

"Indeed," Foreign Minister Xuan echoed. "We admire what ADVENT has been able to accomplish over the past months, and while we are not, nor will we have an interest in joining, there is little reason to sever diplomatic relations entirely. This is why China is willing to form an initial military alliance with ADVENT, and XCOM of course." He nodded to the Commander. "To fight against the alien threat. Should that prove beneficial, we could extend that to other sectors as well."

"It is important for you to realize that we understand the threat that this world faces," Qin continued again. "Too many countries now are refusing to assist either out of fear of ADVENT, or in some vain hope that will save them. They will never act until they are, or have been directly harmed in this fight. Much of Europe is insulated from the threat, which I suspect plays a large role in their neutrality."

"We have also been left alone," General Chang added. "Initially, we were relieved. However, it has quickly become apparent that this is by the aliens plans. To them, we are not a threat. They are relying on us retaining our neutrality even as we prepare to fight them. But eventually, they will turn their focus towards us, and if ADVENT is destroyed, there is no hope for China, much less our species."

"And this is the catalyst for this meeting," Qin finished. "The time for neutrality has passed. China will not be remembered as a nation of cowards who did nothing while aliens fought our species. It is time to enter this war, and as ADVENT is the only force willing to fight, it is prudent to ally to defeat our enemy."

Fine words from the Chinese. Saudia also suspected this was also partially to ensure that China remained relevant, and probably more likely, a means to acquire more alien materials they almost desperately needed if they wished to advance. Ideological reasons were nice, and they likely believed such words to an extent, but the Chinese were a practical people.

They saw the writing on the wall. If ADVENT died, so did they.

They were running low on materials. Such materials could be acquired through combat.

They saw Europe, Africa, and parts of South America refusing to get involved. This was their chance to emerge as the last remaining world power with some semblance of influence.

It all boiled down to politics. But that was what the world revolved around. Who could be the most convincing and offer the most reward. She could work with that. "We echo your sentiment," she finally said. "A military alliance, while not the greatest move of unity that China could do, is nonetheless a powerful statement, one I believe the aliens will not know how to handle."

"There is a reason China is referred to as a sleeping dragon," Minister Han said with a slight smile. "It takes much to fully awaken us, but when enraged, little can stop us."

"Then let's get into details," Laura said, leaning forward. "Words are nice, but if you really are intending to fight the aliens, we need to know if you actually know what that means. It's one thing to read reports, another to witness it in person. Are your weapons even powerful enough to hurt the aliens? Can your soldiers survive against even one plasma blast? How does the PLA measure to the aliens?"

"We have broken through gauss weaponry, and have been producing it ever since designs have been finalized," General Yan answered. "Our weapons are, at minimum, perfectly capable of hurting the aliens. Alien alloys are difficult to acquire, so we've had to improvise by simply working with reinforced Kevlar and experimental body armor. Little compared to yours, but is nonetheless an improvement over the original."

"Our strength is in numbers," Cheng stated. "At this moment our military is over two and a half million soldiers. We have much of our civilian populations working to fortify cities and produce more equipment. We have the capability to boost our numbers to over five million nearly overnight, should it be required."

"And gain a multitude of inexperienced and undertrained soldiers," the Commander noted. "A draft is useful for numbers, but numbers alone will not win this war."

"Ultimately, you are likely correct," Cheng answered. "But for now, numbers will be enough to end the fight in South Korea and storm Japan. Our support from our warships and air forces will additionally supplement our forces. As well as any ADVENT forces you wish to deploy."

The news of the Chinese armaments was not surprising. Saudia would have been more surprised if they were only using conventional arms. Everyone was making improvements, and the Chinese were no exception. However, from the wording, these were likely the quite literal Chinese knockoff gauss weapons. Cheap and easily produced, but sub-par in most ways.

Given their history, she would not have been surprised if they'd stolen a gauss weapon, reverse-engineered it, and made a worse version so they could mass produce it. They weren't above stealing designs when they needed to.

Or maybe they hadn't. That would have been a good way to get annexed, and China probably didn't want that risk.

"That is not necessarily an advantage, at least in a proposed liberation of Japan," the Commander continued. "This is almost certainly going to draw the attention of an Ethereal. I don't know which one, but all of them are far beyond ordinary soldiers."

"Indeed," General Chang nodded. "Which is why we need to have contingencies for each one known. Even we have identified these aliens as the leaders, and the death of one is worth any number of soldiers. I believe they can be beaten, provided we are smart enough to figure it out."

"On that I agree," the Commander nodded. "They most certainly can be beaten. It is a matter of planning and preparation. But you understand that many will die to see this accomplished. Your soldiers are not ADVENT. Against an Ethereal, they are on a suicide mission."

"That is completely understood," Chang said. "But to die for one's species and country is not something to be overlooked."

"Good," the Commander nodded grimly. "As long as you understand what you are proposing."

"Now there is another question that needs to be raised," Qin said after a moment. "We will be doing the majority of fighting in Japan. It is fair that we receive the same majority of resources gathered."

Saudia shared a look with Laura, who nodded. "That is fair," Saudia agreed. "We would not expect you to fight and not receive some of the materials which remain. However, there are certain things we will not allow to fall into foreign hands."

Qin's brow furrowed. "Such as?"

"Anything psionic," Saudia began. "As well as any unidentified technology or aliens. Live prisoners we will also take into custody, as well as any Ethereal or Sectoid bodies."

"I can understand Ethereals," Xuan said slowly. "They are, after all, rare and unique. But simple Sectoids?"

"Yes, any psionic species is under our purview," Saudia answered firmly. "Intact computers we will also have a priority on, although China will not be excluded from them. Anything else recovered we are willing to allow China to have."

"How generous," General Kong said dryly. "Allow us to have the common spoils while you gather what really matters."

"This is true," Qin also noted. "While I can certainly understand your…reluctance…to allow anyone other than yourselves to use psionics, this is not conductive to diplomacy, and ultimately, all it will do is inspire an arms race that might backfire. Even if we do not develop psionics, there are still criminal elements in this world that will eventually learn it. And they do not respect agreements or treaties."

"It is not quite so simple," Hassan pointed out. "The truth is, I do not believe that you quite understand the extent of psionic powers. This is not something that you can just weaponize without consequences. It is as much for your own protection as controlling the usage of psionics."

Cheng snorted. "How patronizing. If ADVENT can manage it, I'm certain we can as well."

Hassan gave a knowing look to the Chinese delegation. "ADVENT is a…special case. It was designed to have multiple redundancies and legislation regarding psionics was in place before the first Priest was deployed. Those with power have a healthy respect for this power, and understand the implications of it. I am not certain you do though."

He nodded towards Kong. "You may, ironically, bring about your own downfall. While you give the illusion of unity to the world, you are aware of the factions and power plays in China. Perhaps some even in this room now. Have you considered what would happen if one or more people hostile to the government acquired psionic powers? How many of your soldiers are truly loyal, or just putting up a facade so they aren't punished?"

Qin furrowed his brow. "We would, of course, take precautions, much like you have, I presume. This power would obviously be shared carefully."

"With respect, I am skeptical," Elizabeth interjected. "You may be able to keep it out of the hands of civilians, or even soldiers. But I am…acutely aware of the fact that not everyone in your government is on the same side. Including a not-insignificant portion who supports ADVENT integration."

Han smiled. "Your agents serve you well, spymaster. But you are not the only one who can disseminate misinformation."

Elizabeth maintained her own smile. "Certainly not, but my point is that psionics is a time bomb for you. You are not united as we are, and you know too little to implement appropriate precautions."

Saudia nodded. "This is ultimately not up for discussion now. There are certain pieces of equipment and bodies that we cannot afford to let fall into foreign hands. This is, as we have explained, for your sake as much as ours, as we cannot afford additional threats. Simply put, we do not have enough of a strong relationship to trust you with such a power. If my some miracle, psionics didn't cause an implosion of your government, you would now be an issue for us."

"And if we had a stronger relationship?" Xuan asked slowly.

"Then all I can promise is that we would perhaps consider a limited program, overseen by us, of course," Saudia answered slowly. "But we are not there yet, and will not be for a long while."

"Still, in doing this now, you are effectively ensuring that China will forever be behind you if we do not follow your demands," General Kong said, some anger in his voice. "That is not acceptable."

"Then join ADVENT," the Commander interjected. "Because that is the only way you will have what you wish."

"The Commander is correct," Saudia nodded. "I will be perfectly honest with you: China, or any foreign power, will not, nor ever, reach a point where they directly threaten us. I fully plan on uniting this world under ADVENT, Mr. President, preferably diplomatically, but that is not my only option. Those who resist will, as a result, eventually find themselves falling behind. We are willing to ally with other nations, but we are under no obligation to assist your own efforts. In the end, ADVENT is the only voice of Humanity that matters, and that cannot compromised."

There was some silence at that. "While harsh, Chancellor, you are at least honest on where you stand," Qin said with some dark amusement. "And lesser materials is better than none at all. But we will not be bullied into joining ADVENT, even if that means we are hindered at every turn."

"That is acceptable," Saudia nodded. "In which case, if you are still willing, we should discuss the finer details of the liberation of Japan."

"Indeed," Qin laced his fingers together. "Let us begin."

---

Busan – South Korea

11/23/2016 – 6:18 A.M.

She'd apparently traded one battle for another.

As far as Abby had been aware, South Korea hadn't been under attack before Australia, but considering the current status of the war in North America, this had likely been in retaliation for such an attack. Made sense, and by all accounts ADVENT had been holding pretty well, disregarding the taunting alien sniper.

The question now was how the hell she was going to explain what had happened to her without ADVENT getting suspicious. It was unlikely, but she didn't especially think ADVENT should be aware of what happened quite yet. This was something for the Commander to deal with. Which meant no transferring the video on the flash drive Quisilia had given her.

She'd checked it out on her own to make sure it was real, and surprisingly enough, it seemed to be. Had she not been there, and thus, couldn't exactly be amused by what happened, the HD footage of Quisilia getting blown into a wall would have made her smile.

Still, even with psionics existing, some things were unbelievable.

Yes, see the person I was working with is apparently working with some entity that can blow Ethereals around like pinballs and has blue psionics. He also apparently wants to control our species as well. So when he was distracted by a nuclear explosion overhead, an Ethereal memelord pushed him into a portal which opens up somewhere in space, gives me this video, and teleports me here.

What? No I'm not crazy!

Abby shook her head. Aegis would probably know more about this than her, or at minimum at least the Commander would be able to make sense of it. She was in the base communications room, which while somewhat basic, was more than sufficient for her, and she could easily connect to the Praesidium from here.

It took a few minutes, but it was beginning to connect. She supposed the battle might have some effect on signal speed. She was in her armor still, minus the helmet. For one, it was comfortable enough that she didn't feel the need to really take it off, and two, she was in a warzone and didn't want to die here of all places.

"This is Central Officer Jackson," a voice greeted. "Agent Gertrude, glad to hear from you. Though…I thought you were in Australia? What is the status there?"

Abby sighed. "Complicated. I need to speak to Zhang immediately. Be sure this is encrypted. Even then I really need to give this report in person."

"Copy, where are you now?"

"Busan, South Korea."

A pause on the other end. "Alright, transferring you now. This sounds like a story."

"I'll tell you later if you really want it," Abby smiled grimly. "Although it isn't a very happy one."

There was a click, and Zhang's gruff voice answered. "Agent Gertrude. Report. There have been…many developments. Was the Australian operation successful?"

Oh, boy. "Not…exactly. Sydney sustained heavy damage, but the Chronicler, and most of his army, are gone. Quisilia was there and was the one who survived his attack and prevented the city from being destroyed."

"I see," Zhang sounded suspicious. "How did you escape?"

Abby winced. "The short version is that our mutual Twitter memelord teleported me out."

The silence was either in disbelief or Zhang was just stunned. "While I am glad you are alive…please explain why Quisilia would do that?"

"He said he had more to gain from me being alive than killing me," Abby explained. "And the Chronicler was not who he appeared to be. He was apparently acting as an avatar of sorts for some kind of entity. Quisilia seemed to know what it was. Do you know what a Sovereign One is? You might want to ask Aegis."

"A Sovereign One?" Zhang's voice became more intense. "Are you certain those were the words?"

"Certain," Abby nodded. "Quisilia was also kind enough to give me a recording of the entire fight. I've verified that it's legitimate. I don't know what he wants, but I need to get this back."

"And this Sovereign One, it was against Quisilia?" Zhang demanded.

"Yes," Abby said. "I wouldn't get too excited though. It doesn't seem exactly…benevolent to our own species. It warned the Ethereals away specifically because it wants us…well, I have the recording."

"Strange." Zhang said after a few moments. "You need to return to the Praesidium as soon as possible."

"I will," Abby nodded. "However, ADVENT is having an issue with an enemy sniper here. I've agreed to assist them. Once that is taken care of, I'll return."

"You cannot afford to die now," Zhang stated. "What you know raises serious questions. No matter what, that cannot be risked."

"I'll make arrangements to have the drive transferred to XCOM should I die," Abby said. "But I'm not leaving until this is done. I already said I would help, and that's what I will do. If Quisilia wanted me to escape, I'm not going to squander that. Taking out a few elite Collective snipers would be sufficient repayment." She looked down at her armor. "And the armor and weapon I have from the Chronicler are…well beyond what even XCOM has. I think I'm fairly safe."

"Fine," Zhang said with clear annoyance. "There is too much happening to debate this with you. I will be sending a skyranger to extract you and when it arrives, you are ordered to board it, whether you've done your part or not. Is that understood?"

"How much time is that?"

"Six hours, minimum."

"It'll have to be," Abby nodded to herself. "I'll speak to you soon then."

"Good luck agent," he said. "And do your best to stay alive."

---

Mars Observation Station, Communications Center – Mars Orbit

11/24/2016 – 10:16 A.M.

The Battlemaster was not wearing his full battle suit, but his original one that he would use until Fectorian finished repairing the new suit. Visually they looked so similar he doubted most beings would notice one way or another. But now it was time to make the Creator reign in her pet, since he'd been unable to actually contact the Hunter despite sending multiple calls.

It was highly likely that the Hunter had destroyed it, since it didn't even allow an opportunity to leave a message. If he thought that would be enough plausible deniability to save him, he was sorely mistaken.

So the Creator would have to deal with him for now, although he certainly intended to punish the Hunter afterwards. Though to what extent he still hadn't decided. That largely depended on what the Creator did. She would likely not be pleased with his antics, and he might consider that punishment enough.

The hologram before him materialized into a shape he didn't expect. Instead of the Creator, there was instead a figure cloaked in an open black robe, hood down, with black light garments underneath. Strapped to the waist of this being was a dagger of some kind, but aside from that there were no other weapons.

The figure itself was otherwise what most would consider disturbing. It was a Vitakarian…or so the Battlemaster assumed, even as it looked very irregular to standard ones. The flesh, instead of being a shade of grey, had deteriorated to a chalky white. The body itself looked somewhat shriveled and gaunt, and yet the eyes seemed to glow a brighter blue than normal.

There were odd markings on the skin too; brands of some kind it looked like. The Battlemaster could clearly see them, especially the prominent ones on the forehead and cheeks, but he couldn't even begin to figure out where they were from, which was…odd. While he was no linguist, he could usually identify from what species such runes, languages, or markings were from.

But he had never seen anything like this. More oddly, all the markings were interconnected and when he looked, seemed to form some kind of outline on the face of the Vitakarian. He didn't even know if they were words or symbols. He had not expected the Creator to be branding her subjects of all things, or resort to such gibberish, for that had to have been what this was.

The figure just stared at him. He supposed it awaited a response. "I need to speak to the Creator," he stated. "Inform her I am waiting."

"The Creator is busy," the figure responded in a raspy voice that somehow had undercurrents of authority underneath it. "You may leave your request with me."

The Battlemaster was somewhat surprised. It was rare that any alien outright refused him, let alone one that looked half-dead. "This is a time-sensitive matter. I will speak to the Creator now."

"You will speak to her when she is available," the being repeated flatly. "No sooner. No later."

The Battlemaster paused. "Are you aware who I am?"

The Vitakarian cocked his head, appraising him with blazing eyes. "You are the Battlemaster of the Ethereal Collective. This is known to us."

"Then consider this an order," he repeated. "I will speak to her now."

"She cannot be disturbed," the Vitakarian repeated. "It is imperative she maintain her full-"

"Let me be clear," the Battlemaster interrupted, lowering his voice and speaking very slowly. It appeared the difficulty the Hunter was posing was not a fluke. What was the Creator doing that she thought ordering her thralls to refuse an Ethereal was a good idea? "I do not have time to debate with you. I will speak to the Creator, or I will arrive at the Blacksite itself and kill everyone inside and destroy whatever project your Creator is working on. You have thirty seconds to comply, and I will not ask again."

He was almost hoping the creature would continue to be stubborn. It would allow him some opportunity to relax and he had wanted to stamp the Creator down for some time now. This was simply more evidence of her delusions, and the Imperator had given her entirely too much freedom and not enough oversight.

The Vitakarian was silent for a few moments, head cocked at the same angle, as if listening to something only he could hear. Then he suddenly straightened. "Please wait, Battlemaster, I will return shortly."

How nice that the decaying Vitakarian was cooperating now. This was not what he needed to deal with; not when there was still an entire military operation to sort out. The good news was that the Creator knew he didn't make idle threats, and thus he was expecting her to arrive relatively soon, regardless of how 'important' her project was or not.

Sure enough, several short minutes later the Creator appeared before him. Upon seeing her, he realized that it had been an extremely long time since he'd actually bothered communicating beyond reading reports. She looked very different, and it wasn't surprising since it had been years even seeing each other in person. It wasn't atypical for her, as she had become more and more isolated as of late.

Doing what, he could only guess at. But if even some of the rumors of her Blacksite were true, it was nearly as sickening as the crimes of Isomnum's past. Yet the Imperator had decreed she be allowed to work in peace, and he had decided to respect that. But now, he was quite sure that might have been a mistake.

The Creator was clad in grey underclothing similar to that worn by Macula, and in fact had the pockets and linings filled with various vials, cutting utensils, and other micro-tools for precise genetic sculpting. Over that, however, she wore an open variant of an Overmind's robe, one which was pure white. More curiously, the Battlemaster also saw the strange markings all over her robe and clothing. Not on the skin though, which he was halfway surprised at.

Yet it did raise questions. Just from that, he knew that something had been going on for some time and that he didn't have the faintest idea of what it could be was a bad sign. Another problem of the Collective to solve later, all he needed now was for her to assist him. The Creator jabbed one of her gloved fingers at him. "I do not expect you to understand what you interrupted, Battlemaster, but I will not tolerate it-"

"Enough," he growled, raising a fist. "Your projects and opinions do not come before the needs to the Collective. I. Do. Not. Care. You would also do well to instruct your assistants to be more respectful-"

"They did exactly as I ordered!" She retaliated angrily. "I do not appreciate threats, Battlemaster, no more than you appreciate them to your underlings. I will be speaking to the Imperator about your gross misuse of your-"

"Your test subjects are in no way comparable," the Battlemaster stated flatly. "And you are less important to this Collective than I am, and as of right now, one of your pets is disrupting a major military operation. Your Hunter. Recall him immediately and deal with him as you see fit. Once you finish, send him to me."

The Creator stared at him for a few moments. "Is that it? Did you dare interrupt me and threaten my work for that!?"

"Yes." The Battlemaster did not like her genuinely infuriated tone. She had truly become more unstable. "Recall him now. This is not a request."

"And what is he doing?" She demanded. "Is he simply not being a good little soldier?"

"He is disobeying orders and firing on Collective soldiers," the Battlemaster said. "If you really wish for details, I will inform you later. But this must be done now."

She chuckled. "In that case, I am afraid I cannot help you. I could, of course, send my own to extract him, but I do not see the need. Certainly not for a few unenlightened aliens. If he wishes to return, it will be of his own prerogative or if the Humans…" she paused. "Or the Collective, stop him."

The Battlemaster didn't believe that. "You would never set something like him loose without a means of restraining him."

"And if I did, I would certainly not use it to satisfy you," she growled. "You have wasted my time, Battlemaster. Do not presume to trouble me again or there will be consequences."

She disconnected.

He was, quite legitimately, shocked at the sheer disrespect and arrogance she had displayed. Not even Isomnum was so dismissive or unhelpful. There had been a major mistake in letting her work unchecked and now she believed she was untouchable. That she was above the concerns of the Collective.

In which case, there was only one thing he could really do. He opened a channel to the Zar'Chon. "Yes, Battlemaster?"

"Recall the Assassin to the Observation Station and give her a new target," the Battlemaster commanded, looking onto the projections of space where Earth was still spinning. "She is to kill or capture the Hunter. Give her whatever support she needs."

"It will be done," the Zar'Chon assured him. "In the event that she captures him, what should be done?"

"Bring him to me, if I am here. Imprison him if I am not," the Battlemaster ordered. "If he speaks too much, cut out his tongue and repeat that as many times as necessary."

"Understood, Battlemaster."

---

Busan – South Korea

11/23/2016 – 6:32 A.M.

There was good and bad news that Duri could visibly observe as the battle kept going forward. The good was that, aside from the persistent and taunting Hunter, the aliens had largely been unable to actually do anything to them. Every minor advance they made was pushed back my storms of gauss slugs and artillery, and snipers were continuing to decimate their back ranks and more delicate equipment.

As a result, it was almost inevitable that it would lead into the bad news, which was that the aliens were retreating to a point outside effective fighting range. Even Beatriz was saying it was difficult to get a solid target, although the retreating aliens did have to expose themselves as they retreated, giving ADVENT some briefly vulnerable targets.

"Question," Cara said after she fired another burst from her M2. "If they get out of our artillery range, can't we just bomb them?"

"Probably," Duri answered, dusting off his rifle. "Although they probably would get shot down. I don't think we know if they have AA defenses up."

Beatriz snorted. "Do they look like they have any?"

Duri gave a wan smile under his helmet. "Good point."

"That's a good suggestion," the Hunter suddenly interjected. "ADVENT, please send bombers out there to blow these disappointing aliens away. I'll be sure to leave a few to do the job."

He could hear the scowl in Aleksandra's voice. "Found alien air defense."

Duri almost rolled his eyes. The Hunter, for whatever reason, had apparently liked to listen in on his squad, as well as rotating through other squads. He wasn't exactly flattered by the attention, since he suspected the Hunter was going to end this by killing one of them.

"Aww, I've never been called that before," the Hunter gave a raspy chuckle. "I like you. You'll live today."

"Go fuck you, чуждый отброс."

All that was returned was an ugly chuckle. Duri didn't have a good feeling about what would come next. "Aleksandra-"

She suddenly lurched forward, dropping her rifle as her left hand seemed to burst into fragments of bone and bloody chunks. The normally stoic Russian screamed in agony and slumped to the wall, clutching the bleeding stump of her hand. "Nobuatsu!" Duri shouted to the medic as he and Beatriz immediately rushed to help her.

Duri lowered her to the ground while Beatriz helped remove her helmet as she was breathing heavily, all the color having drained from her already pale face. "Cheeky Human," the Hunter chuckled. "Just because I find you amusing doesn't mean I can't make you hurt a little. Be a little more careful or next time, I might take off something a bit more vital."

"This'll only take a moment," Nobuatsu told Aleksandra as he began spraying the stump with a medkit. "We're getting something to carry you out of this."

"He's behind our line!" Beatriz snarled in revelation. "That's how he's able to shoot us!"

"At least for now," Cara interjected. "We should probably let someone know about that."

More ADVENT medics arrived, along with another soldier that didn't seem to be wearing anything standard-issue. It looked more stone-like than what Duri had seen before. Either a new kind of unit, or maybe…XCOM? He didn't know right now. "Not needed," Aleksandra managed, standing up with Duri's help, as she saw the stretcher. "I walk."

Nobuatsu seemed to take a few moments to see if it was worth the trouble to argue it, then shrugged and motioned for the medics to follow them. "Fine, but if you collapse, you're getting on there whether you like it or not." He put a supportive hand on her shoulder and they quickly walked off to the better medical facilities behind the front lines.

"Take off your helmet," the figure wearing the strange armor ordered, a woman it turned out. "He's listening on the channels."

Duri nodded silently and complied, and the woman did the same thing. She looked fairly young, short blonde hair, and attractive Caucasian features. American or European, clearly. However, her eyes were the hardened ones of a veteran, looks he'd only seen on the ones of his superiors or people who'd experienced tragic events. It looked wrong on someone so young.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Abigail Gertrude," she answered. "XCOM Intelligence."

He raised an eyebrow. What exactly was XCOM Intelligence doing here, and as far as he could tell, she wasn't especially blending in. And why would XCOM send an intelligence agent to a warzone? That wasn't their forte, if he remembered right. Still, any XCOM soldiers were better than none. "How can I help?"

"I just need some information," she nodded to the now-bloodstained area which Aleksandra had occupied. "I'm working with some ADVENT personnel to remove this Hunter. The shot came from behind, correct?"

"It appears so," Duri nodded. "Her hand was below the firing slit," he motioned to the stained alloy trench defenses. "The only way he could hit that is from behind, or to the side. Of the two, one seems much more likely."

Her lips moved to a humorless smile. "Excellent. Thank you, Officer. Should all go well, you won't have to worry about him for much longer."

Duri gave a single nod. "I hope so. Make it painful."

Some amusement sparked in her eyes. "If I can, it won't be an easy death."

She put her helmet back on, and marched away. Duri turned back to the largely quiet battlefield that was interspersed with staccato gauss bursts. The Hunter had gone silent, and hopefully he was moving back to the alien line where he belonged. However, he doubted that he was going to go down so easily.

If there was one thing he'd proven, it was that he was brazen enough to believe he could shoot behind enemy lines without consequences.

Duri hoped that XCOM agent would prove him very, very wrong.

---

The Island of Hawai'i - Hawaii

Operation: Kamehameha – Day 3

11/23/2016 – 10:56 A.M.

The final offensive on Hawaii had finally begun. The aliens, at least from what Sierra had seemed to observe, were pretty much running scared when they realized just how much ADVENT was committing to this attack. The aliens were seemingly retreating and only leaving a skeleton army to put up a token defense for the more valuable units to retreat.

Didn't stop her from killing every single one she'd seen.

However, it did look like they were going to make Honolulu one which forced a concentrated effort from ADVENT. On one of the carriers, with Ted and Anna behind her, Sierra observed the final obstacle standing in their way of reclaiming Hawaii: The Honolulu fortress.

Not only were their AA defenses installed into the various buildings, and a short alloy wall with the remaining Mutons, interspersed with some new kind of augmented Mutons, which from experience, Sierra could say were much more difficult to kill than standard ones. There were also Cyberdisks floating and already firing at them, as well as Sectopods on the streets.

"Bad news," Ted said. "There is at least one Gatekeeper there. Even I can sense it."

"Can confirm," Carmelita added. "Definitely a Gatekeeper there. Looks like this is the last stand for them though. Mostly cannon fodder and mechanical units too big for Gateways."

Well, Sierra suspected that those numbers would going to be culled after the first volley from the warships. Carmelita, and most of the ADVENT forces were holding back until the initial barrage was over, and now that ADVENT had air superiority, when the artillery hit, there wasn't going to be anything to stop them from having air support.

"And here it comes," Anna said gleefully as the weapons of the ships turned to the city. They fired with thunderclaps and bangs; dozens of ships firing in unison at the alien fortress, without fear of collateral damage or missing. The effect was immediate, and Sierra saw buildings begin crumbling, aliens dying, and explosions in the city itself.

This continued for some time, and the aliens seemed helpless to stop the barrage, and ADVENT seemed content to keep firing until the front line of alien defenses was nothing but scrap metal and rubble. "Gatekeeper is still there," Ted updated, stepping forward. "Probably hiding if it's smart."

"All forces are cleared to engage," Admiral Walter commanded. "Cleanse the island of these aliens!"

"With great pleasure," Anna said, raising her rifle. "Seraph?"

"You heard him," Sierra nodded, switching all communication to helmet comms. "Let's go kill some aliens."

She activated her jets, angled herself towards the island, and blasted forward. On the way she did one final check that everything was working. Probably not needed, but she had nothing else to really focus on as the majority of initial defenses had been destroyed by the barrage. "Cyberdisks on approach," Anna said, as Sierra saw the flying disks in the distance. They almost seemed confused, not sure where to target first as the list of targets approaching was overwhelming. "I want to try something."

"Off you go," Sierra acknowledged as Anna boosted forward towards one of the Cyberdisks, while she readied her flamethrower for the other ones. Ted's arms glowed with purple energy as he also prepared to fight whatever was left. Anna pulled a turn that the Cyberdisk couldn't follow and was close enough to grab one of the barrels of the machine.

She thrust upward and tossed a grenade into its innards, then boosted off. It exploded in a ball of white and orange, while Sierra unleashed her flamethrower on the other floating Cyberdisks. It was somewhat ironic that something so simple as fire was the largest weakness of this armored enemy. The aliens would have to fireproof these if they ever wanted to fight an Archangel in the future, and live.

Ted was continuing his own barrage of psionic energy against the Cyberdisks, and as it turned out, psionics had a similar effect to fire in that it destroyed all the vital components that were foolishly exposed when the Cyberdisk was open. Sierra didn't know how long it took, as they literally flew circles around the Cyberdisks, and the alien forces on the ground were already occupied with the invading ADVENT and XCOM forces.

As the last Cyberdisk fell, Sierra quickly looked down at the city to see ADVENT forces swarming over it like a black horde, and near Pearl Harbor was Carmelita and her squad. Fitting that the stronghold of the aliens was destroyed by XCOM. But her job was only to assist where needed, and now they had free reign to attack wherever they wanted.

"Pick your targets," she ordered as they swooped down closer to the battlefield itself. "Save important resources for high-priority objectives."

"Copy that," Anna confirmed, right before she briefly landed in front of a trio of Mutons, executed them with her autorifle before they were aware she was there, then blasted back up into the sky. Ted disintegrated another team of Mutons, the psionic energy eating into the aliens until there was nothing left but scraps of flesh and armor.

Sierra preferred taking a more direct hand in helping, by flying towards ADVENT positions and then landing behind the alien lines before either shooting them in the back or roasting them with a flamethrower burst. It made her smile to hear the cheers and whoops when she showed up, because they knew that the aliens facing them were dead.

And she made absolutely certain of that.

How long they fought like this, she didn't particularly know. A couple hours most likely, and with their kill counts reaching levels she had never really thought she would attain. That was, of course, before she had an armored suit that could fly. And a few partners to help her out. "Archangels," Carmelita suddenly interjected. "We could use your assistance now. We've found the Gatekeepers."

Plural. That was not good. "We're on our way," Sierra confirmed, redirecting towards where Carmelita was. "Anna! Ted! Behind me!"

Her two Archangels quickly formed up behind her, and a few minutes later they were over where the battle against the Gatekeepers was taking place. The two hybrids of flesh and armor were supported by some of the augmented Mutons, and luckily the Gatekeepers were in their shells, and content to fire their yellow lasers.

The XCOM soldiers were backed up by several dozen ADVENT soldiers and Priests, and the combined fire seemed to be keeping the Gatekeepers from getting closer. The XCOM psions were continuing to use their abilities as much as they could, but as Ted could attest to, the closer a psion was to a Gatekeeper, the more difficult it was to concentrate enough to use them.

Carmelita was firing her alloy cannon behind cover, although she seemed to be looking for an excuse to charge forward, but was held back by the danger that the Gatekeepers posed. However, the Archangels did not need to have that problem. But first the Mutons had to be dealt with.

Anna pulled out several Thermite Grenades and tossed them towards the augmented Mutons, while Sierra and Ted continued firing at them from above. The Mutons didn't make any noise or signal pain as the thermite ate into them, but it was enough for the combined firepower of the two of them to take several more down.

"We've got Purifiers coming up," Carmelita updated. "Keep them distracted a little longer!"

More ADVENT soldiers died to another beam from the Gatekeepers, and one of the white spheres decided to charge forward, only to be stopped by one of the telekine Templars, Pall, if Sierra remembered correctly. All of them focused their firepower on the Gatekeeper, and when Pall was finally unable to maintain the hold, it retreated; smoking, dented, and blackened from the firepower of the Humans.

Sierra winced as one of the plasma shots from the Mutons clipped her shoulder, but it was only a scratch, and she could withstand several more shots there. "Here they are," Ted motioned to the four Purifiers who were walking up, orange fire within their weapons almost begging to be released. The aliens seemed to realize they were dead the moment the Purifiers raised their weapons.

They attempted to fall back, but it was futile.

Within moments the entire airfield area the aliens had occupied was engulfed in the fiery embrace of Chlorine-Triflouride. The Mutons fell to the ground, the metal that was apparently keeping them together melting and fusing to the ground. Although maybe it was simpler than that, as their flesh melted off them as well.

The Gatekeepers emanated some kind of scream that even Sierra could hear, before they exploded from the fire that seeped through the cracks of their segmented covering. Although it was more accurate to say that one exploded, and one just fell to the ground, shell mostly intact as it leaked grey fluid.

The Purifiers swept their flamethrowers over the area a couple times, before ceasing the torrent and stepping back. All of ADVENT seemed to stand and watch the flames crackle and spread, further consuming the alien body parts that remained. "I wish I had a camera now," Anna said wistfully beside her. "These kind of memories are worth preserving."

"Take some stills from our armor cams," Ted suggested. "I think we have a few days worth of usable material here."

Anna chuckled. "All we need to do now is start our own XCOM card line."

Sierra only smiled at their banter. And with that, it seemed, the final obstacle was destroyed. Hawaii would soon belong back to ADVENT. And she was going to be there when they raised the flag once more.

---

Busan – South Korea

11/23/2016 – 10:11 A.M.

"He's on this side somewhere," Abby told the leader of their small strike team. Kwok Yeong-Gi had two other Lancers accompanying him, Tae-Hyun and Eun-Won, as well as two Winged Hussars from North Korea, Hin-Sang and Soo-Hyun. However, his main weapons were the Priest trio, all of whom were fairly powerful, and now that they knew the general area the Hunter was operating out of, they could likely begin working.

"I will need protection," Myo Young-Ja, the Magus Protopriest Telepath ordered. "Once I touch his mind…he might realize we are coming after him. He will likely try to stop us."

"Then begin," Na Yong-Chol nodded, raising a hand and all of them were suddenly under a psionic dome. The telepath extended one hand forward, his eyes likely closed under his helmet as a slight distortion surrounded his figure. The Winged Hussars had also fallen to one knee, looking through their scopes for any sign of the alien.

"I've never seen anything like that," Min Eun, the final Priest in the triumvirate noted, nodding to her particle weapon. "It doesn't even look XCOM."

Abby looked down at the grey stone-like weapon. "It technically isn't. Let's say that this is…very experimental."

Min tapped her own chest. "What's the figure supposed to be? I can't really make it out?"

Abby knew she was talking about the strange symbol on her armor, which she'd also noted on all of the Chronicler's soldiers as well. She hadn't figured it out either, and she was debating it being a hieroglyphic of some kind, or a depiction of some kind of creature. "It's alien," she finally said. "We're…not completely sure what it means yet."

"Ah."

"So once we locate him, what do we do?" Tae asked Yeong. "If he detects Myo, I doubt he's going to stay in one place."

"Unlikely," Yeong agreed slowly, pressing a button on his wrist. "However, I have three artillery teams standing by once we have his location. He doesn't need to stay long. Just enough for us to level the building he's residing in."

"And what if it's a hospital or destroying it hurts us?" Eun questioned.

"Then we do this the hard way," Yeong said. "Snipers don't do well under pressure. Whoever he is, I doubt he can withstand a telepath for long." He motioned behind him. "And we have two more to keep him under control."

"Capture or kill?"

"Capture if we can, kill if it's not possible."

"Copy."

They waited for a few minutes. "I have located the mind," the layered voice of Myo stated. "Subtler than I was expecting. He is definitely a psion, and I have avoided direct contact."

Yeong nodded. "Can you break through? And how powerful is he?"

"I can likely occupy him," Myo answered. "He does not appear to be powerful. I cannot determine his species, but it is not an Ethereal or Sectoid."

"Wait…" Abby furrowed her eyebrows. "It's a psion…but supposedly not from an actual psionic species? It isn't a Human, you're sure?"

"Positive," Myo assured her, hand lowering to his side. "And yes, he is definitely not a Sectoid or Ethereal."

"This is probably one of those isolated psionic aliens," Abby said. "You've seen or heard of the Warlock, right? That isn't the only one. I've fought another one in Australia, an assassin of some kind with similar abilities." She looked towards the buildings. "This sounds like another one. We can't underestimate it. These things seem to be impossible to kill."

"Then this will be the first," Yeong stated, giving her an approving nod. "I appreciate the information. Myo, where is he?"

The telepath pointed towards a rather nondescript building some ways behind the ADVENT line, a small five-storied building that didn't seem to be containing anything useful. "I don't see anything," Soo-Hyun said, looking through her scope.

"He probably has cloaking, and I doubt he's on the roof," Abby guessed. "But that doesn't look important."

"No, I don't believe it is," Yeong said, turning to Myo as he was tapping on his wristpad. "Myo, lock down his mind on my command. Keep him in place until the artillery hits."

"I'm ready when you are," he nodded, nearly imperceptible barriers surrounding him once more. Yeong simply nodded, and after a few tense minutes, he finally turned to the telepath.

"Do it now."

The moment he spoke that, missiles streaked towards the building and it lit up in a series of spectacular explosions. The ground rumbled as the building collapsed and rubble fell to the ground. "Move forward!" Yeong ordered, and the soldiers began dashing towards the collapsed building. Myo stayed in place, still presumably assaulting the Hunter.

"He's stronger than I assumed," Myo grunted. "But it seems all he knows is defense. I can't get much from him, but he's still alive and he can't move far."

The rest of the ADVENT forces had cleared out as they approached the dusty rubble, the streets clear of any distractions of equipment, as ADVENT had made sure to have as swift of access as possible throughout the city. Abby saw something on the roof of a nearby building, almost seeming to mirror their motions. She glanced up and her blood froze.

The figure vanished into thin air and then reappeared on the ground, a short distance in front of them. "Look out!" Abby warned, raising her weapon as all of them skidded to a stop. "It's another one of them!"

The Assassin suddenly looked in their direction, almost as if she hadn't seen them there until now. Her blade was suddenly in the hand of the lithe figure, and raised in a mock approximation of what Abby had seen the Battlemaster perform before combat. The Assassin wore the same armor as before, and appeared to be none the worse for wear despite her encounter with the Chronicler.

"You are here to kill my brother, yes?" the Assassin rasped.

Yeong stepped forward cautiously. "We are. And you as well if you threaten us."

A low rumble emanated from the Assassin. "You would die. The XCOM soldier can attest to this. I was not expecting her here…and not wearing that."

"The feeling is mutual," Abby said, also stepping forward, weapon pointed at her. "What are you doing here, Assassin?"

"The same thing as you, I presume," she answered, not wavering in her stance. "The Battlemaster is displeased with the idiotic actions of my brother, and I am to return him to the Collective."

"We'd prefer to kill him," Yeong suggested. "I don't suppose treason is punishable by death?"

"You cannot kill him anymore than me," the Assassin stated flatly. "My mission is not you. You can either help me here, and I leave, or you fight me and I kill all of you before completing my mission."

"How can we trust you?" Tae demanded.

She was suddenly blasted back, and Abby saw a good chunk of her head simply…gone, presumably from a headshot. Their weapons turned towards the source of the gunshot, and they saw their first glimpse of the Hunter.

The figure was of similar size to the Assassin, although not quite as thin. The grey armor he wore was also similar, some kind of alloy plating over another alloy underweave. The symbol present on the Assassin's chest was also engraved on his own. Unlike the Assassin though, a hood covered his head, and underneath it was a mask that was designed in such a way as to almost be smiling. The eye slits were lit with a bright blue underneath, but the helmet didn't seem to be that heavy.

In his hands was the largest sniper rifle Abby had ever seen, which looked like it could easily be her height. At his side were strapped several pistols and a blade of some kind. He stood over the rubble of the building, but it didn't look like he'd been particularly hurt by the artillery.

"My dear sister, consorting with Humans," the Hunter tsked, chuckling as he appeared to reload his rifle. A psionic shield suddenly appeared in front of them once it turned their way. "And yet I'm the bad guy." Another chuckle. "I've wanted to do that for a long time."

The Hussars locked their own rifles on him, although the psionic barrier made it impossible to fire them yet. "So, Humans, you really think that you can actually fight me? Your telepath is annoying, but he's…let us say he doesn't know who he's fighting. My mind is my own, and it will not be violated by a mere Human. Find me if you can."

The Hunter suddenly vanished from sight. "Myo, where is he?" Yeong ordered, even as the psionic barriers stayed in place. "Forget breaking in, we just need to know where he is."

"Just as well," Myo answered. "I can't break in. He shouldn't be this strong. Give me a moment."

A growl caught their attention, and the Assassin stood back up, a chunk of her helmet missing. "Traitorous sibling," she spat. "You will pay dearly for your insolence, brother."

"How the fuck…" Yong-Chol said quietly.

"Like I said," Abby sighed. "They seem impossible to kill."

The Assassin suddenly teleported a few feet over just as another shot hit the ground she'd been standing. "Stay down, sister!" The Hunter demanded, as he materialized on the third story of a nearby building. "I don't like being interrupted."

She blinked from their sight, and materialized in front of the Hunter and swung her blade towards him. He jumped back with surprisingly nimbleness and fired two rounds point-blank into her armor, one shattering the armor and the second going straight through her. "Fire!" Abby yelled to them. "Shoot him now!"

Abby fired her particle rifle and the Hunter slid to the side as the blue beam hit where he'd been. Shots from the Hussars did manage to hit him, and he stumbled back, just as the Assassin materialized behind him. Almost as if he predicted the move, he slammed the butt of his rifle behind him, knocking her off-balance before dropping the rifle and pulling out one of his pistols and firing several shots behind him without looking.

With his other hand he reached for his other pistol and fired down at them. "Ah!" Jin-Sang fell backward, blood seeping from shots from his throat. Abby didn't know how he could pull off such a shot with a pistol, but he had done it easily, and was returning to the wounded Assassin who was struggling to recover.

He scooped his rifle up again, just as Min yelled and yanked backwards, and the Hunter went flying out towards them. A shout of anger reached her ears, and the Hunter somehow then used that momentum to control his fall and the moment he landed, he fired at Min and her head exploded into shards of armor and flesh.

"Do you really think I've never fought a psion before?" He chuckled in malevolent glee, reloading his weapon even as the rest of the soldiers fired. He leapt to the right and Abby saw that she needed to do something, so she did the last thing he would expect – she charged.

That got the Hunter's attention, and he pulled out one of his pistols while holding his rifle by the barrel. She kept firing her own particle rifle, and when it hit, it easily tore through the armor and he negated that by continuing to move and fire at her. But unlike the other soldiers, her armor stood strong against the projectiles of the Hunter.

She felt the impacts, they made her stumble and came close to knocking the wind out of her several times, especially those to her head and chest, but she was still standing and closing in on the alien. "The fuck is this?" He demanded, as much in admiration as frustration. "Now that just isn't fair."

The Assassin materialized beside him and sliced down, and the Hunter, assuming she was aiming for a vital organ, moved back but she had anticipated that, and instead she sliced off his right arm. The limb holding the sniper rifle flopped to the ground, and the Hunter snarled in pain and fury. "Cheap shot, bitch."

The Hunter suddenly tossed something towards the Assassin which she swung to deflect, but instead it exploded into a swarm of nanites that began coating her. "Tell the Battlemaster to come himself if he's really displeased," the Hunter snarled, punching more holes into his estranged sibling. "You're clever, sister, but you're no Battlemaster." He sneered as the alien screamed as the nanites kept eating into her. "I'm guessing since you're here your little mission to Mexico didn't go as planned. You're just another one of the bitch's unthinking tools-"

A direct shot to his head sent him stumbling back, and Abby followed up with firing her particle rifle at it. She missed, but the slug from the Winged Hussar had apparently penetrated the helmet, and directly into the eye of the Hunter. "Gah!" He scowled, aiming his pistol at them. "Good shot! Serves me right for monologuing. But like my lovely sister…I can't die." Abby could easily imagine the smirk under his mask. "Sorry to disappoint. But I've put up with your distractions long enough."

He began firing at the soldiers, but was blocked by a psionic barrier. "Cheaters," he condemned lightly. "Not to worry," he turned to Abby. "You're an interesting one. I think bringing you back with me might make the Battlemaster a little less angry."

"I don't think so-" Abby began, before the Hunter lowered his pistol and shot her leg, and this time she felt the projectile tear through her skin. She collapsed to the ground, pain shooting from her kneecap.

"Took me a few shots," the Hunter said, slowly walking up to her. "But there isn't an armor I can't pierce. Everything has gaps, even yours. So don't put up a fight, and I won't blow out your other kneecap." He holstered his pistol, and reached down with his only arm to reach for her particle rifle. "And this-"

Abby gave a weak smile as the wires interjected themselves into him the moment he picked it up. The Chronicler had warned that no one but her could use it, though he hadn't specified why. But that became readily apparent as the weapon exploded in his hand, blowing him back into the street, his entire arm and part of his side simply gone.

The Hunter groaned, and struggled to get up, though that wasn't easy with no arms. And now another figure stumbled toward him. The Assassin had recovered, even if the nanites had reduced her armor to scraps and exposed her facial features as those resembling something oddly like an Andromedon.

"You will wish that this is the worst pain you can feel," the Assassin hissed, as she planted her blade in the Hunter's chest, or what was left of it, while she pulled out a small curved knife. "Because once the Battlemaster finishes with you, you will be judged the Creator."

"Heh," the Hunter gurgled, spitting some blood at her. "Let them. I will not die today, or ever-"

The Assassin grabbed him by the chin and made two quick cuts at the corners of his mouth, before prying his mouth wide open. Abby winced, but didn't look away as the Assassin worked the blade in his mouth before finally tossing aside a tongue before hoisted the armless alien over her shoulder.

"Your assistance is noted, Humans," she said, walking away. "We will meet again, but it is unlikely to be as allies." With that the air simmered around her and she vanished, leaving them alone. Abby heard one of the soldiers rushing to her side once it was gone.

"We'll get you medical help," she heard Yeong assure her. "Don't know where you got that weapon, but I think that's the only reason we're still alive."

"Probably," Abby winced, knowing that now they wouldn't get a chance to research it. "I guess it's a good thing only one of those aliens was against us."

"Yeah," he spared a look to where the furious battle had taken place. "I've never seen anything like that. Invincible beings. It was unnatural."

"You probably won't believe me," Abby said as she let herself be hoisted up and hopped on one leg. "But I think that was the second-most dangerous recent experience."

Yeong shook his head as he helped her walk. "I had thought it would be interesting to be part of XCOM. If what you do is like that, I think I'm quite happy where I am."

"You're smart," Abby gave a pained chuckle. "I think you should try and stay that way. Smart and alive." She glanced behind her and her eyes widened as she saw the Hunter's sniper rifle lying on the ground, in the hand of the severed arm.

"Hey," she said. "Can someone bag the rifle and body parts? I think XCOM R&D would like to take a look at that." Yeong nodded, and motioned for the rifle and body parts to be picked up. Well, even if she didn't bring back a particle rifle, the insanely destructive sniper rifle of the Hunter was probably a suitable alternative.

And likely one they would be able to actually replicate. And Vahlen would find the limbs of these aliens useful as well.

All things considered, it could have turned out much worse.

---

Los Angeles, California – United States of America

Operation: Sherman – Day 3

11/23/2016 – 11:01 A.M.

It just wasn't working.

Patricia had tried nearly every single technique she could think of to put what the Imperator had revealed into tangible action. But it was a problem of visualization. It was a problem of actually putting such commands into such a small, yet understandable format. She just couldn't think on such a small scale.

It was like trying to think about things from the perspective of a cell. It just wasn't comprehensible for rational minds. Ironically, an insane person might actually be able to do this better, since they didn't see the world in a rational, logical manner. And that was frustrating to her, not because it was impossible, but because it just tantalizingly, infuriatingly, just out of her reach.

She knew she was close to figuring it out.

But time was running out. She couldn't just stay up here forever hitting the same roadblock over and over again. People were counting on her. People were dying while she played the psionic manipulator.

She furrowed her eyebrows as she looked into the city. Not as much progress as ADVENT would have liked had been made. The aliens were fortifying their positions deep within the city, and had been using newer units such as the Replicas and Fectorian's enhanced soldiers. Even some Spectres had been deployed, though techniques and methods from other groups, specifically from Geist, had at least managed to turn substantial losses into some kind of tradeoff.

Still, the Spectres killed more than they didn't, and the aliens were being smart and giving their dead to the nanoweapons, and essentially turning one Spectre into four hundred. The good news was that they were being designated as priority targets, and Purifiers and Priests immediately focused on them whenever they showed up.

Yet it was only a matter of time before they became overwhelmed.

And she just didn't have what was needed today. If she could affect the living, they could win. But she couldn't, no matter how much she tried.

In fact, she was now wondering if this was simply a means of the Imperator distracting her. The technique was sound, but perhaps only Ethereals could do it, and for everyone else it was a waste of time. That would be infuriatingly smart, and would explain why he kept bothering her.

"No, you can certainly perform it," the Imperator answered her unspoken question, materializing beside her. "I am not petty enough to waste your time on an impossible claim."

"Welcome back," she said with some mockery, as he had basically disappeared for most of a day, and only now had decided to reappear. While it was nice not to have his voice in her ear, she had, for some reason, almost missed his company. Maybe it was that the mystique of such a powerful being was slowly undone the more they spoke.

The Imperator, despite being their enemy, did not seem evil. Or at least no evil than anyone else. Just on the opposite side. And even now he was more of a spectator than anyone actually invested. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to feel about that. There was a piece, a motivation here, that she was just missing.

The Imperator seemed to be using everyone in this conflict, ally and enemy. One was put up against the other; both were tested and pushed to their limits. Vital knowledge was given to any side, either to prove a point to others, or simply to see if it could be done. The Imperator did have some goal besides idle chatter, but nothing Patricia could think of completely fit.

"You are getting closer," the Imperator said, gesturing out to the city. "I suspect you would eventually understand it. Knowing what to strive for is a major part of any ability of this magnitude, yet I fear that your time is running short. The Battlemaster is planning to end this attack, and kill you in particular. You, nor any soldier, can stand against him. Not yet."

"We almost killed him once," Patricia reminded the form of her doppelgänger. "We almost killed him again in D.C. Of all your Ethereals, he is most certainly not the invincible one."

"And with that attitude, you will be another of his victims," the Imperator mused, stepping forward, hands clasped behind the back. "There is no such thing as almost killing a Battlemaster. All you have done is made him stronger. For each weakness you expose, he will fix it. Every flaw is one that he will mend if exploited. You cannot keep almost killing him, for all you will do is inevitably make him invincible."

Patricia sniffed. "That's a long time. And I doubt he'll stand against a nuke."

The doppelgänger turned to her with a smile. "And tell me Patricia, are you willing to nuke this city to kill him?"

She was silent. "I do not blame you," he continued. "Yet he can be driven back. But you must act now. I can give you what you want. I can give you the perspective you need. My offer has not changed. It is a simple exchange of knowledge, nothing more or less. On that you have my word."

"And how do I actually know that?" She repeated, the same objection coming to her as before. "You are more skilled than me. I'm not sure I'd notice if you put something in my head you shouldn't have."

"You certainly think highly of yourself," the Imperator commented, the smile maintained. "And how, exactly, do you know that I haven't been doing that this entire time?" He swept a hand out in front of him. "Patricia Trask, as I've explained before, I have little interest in turning you into an unthinking pawn. Manipulating your mind in such a way I find insinuates that my words and reasons are inadequate, and ultimately, wrong. One should not have to resort to mind tricks and such…" he paused, searching for an appropriately descriptive word. "Cheating, to make a point or change a mind. Some do not bother, of course, but I am not one of them."

He extended a palm to her. "I am offering to help you. Assume your rightful role in this galaxy. All organic life is subject to the will of beings like us. It is time for a Human to join those ranks."

It all came down to a question: Did she trust the Imperator to be telling the truth?

The answer was surprisingly clear.

She reached out and took the offered hand. The Imperator smiled. "This will only take a moment."

There was no noise, no sudden flash; very rarely was reality so dramatic, she was finding out. But it was, in its own way, just as momentous. It was as if the puzzle pieces, guesswork, and experimentation suddenly fell into place and she understood. She knew now where she'd been going wrong.

It was indeed a problem of perspective. She'd been so tied to her own viewpoint and perspective that envisioning anything on a higher or lower scale was extraordinarily difficult for her to do. She was rigid in her thought patterns and perspective, and now that barrier was just gone.

She closed her eyes and extended her mind outwards into she found the first alien mind she could. One protected by the Overmind on the surface, but she simply looked deeper; simpler; clearer than she ever had before. Gone were the easily translated words and images, and replaced with pulses and simple binary commands that the brain processed millions of times every second.

The sheer volume of work the brain was capable of was one she could have spent hours marveling at, yet such a simple realm was now her own. She grabbed and observed the pulses, seeing where they were directed and what information they contained. It took time, it could have been minutes or hours, but she eventually began to map out the functions that the brain controlled.

Breathing. Pumping blood. The heart. The nerves. Even the deepest biological functions she had access to. Now all that remained was to exercise her power over it. And now her old methods could be applied in a different way. She simply changed the pulses to contain a different command.

In this case, it was simply to shut the brain itself off.

The moment the command was given, she was back into the present, with the Imperator looking at her knowingly. "And that, Patricia, is only a fraction of what you can do. You have the knowledge. Now use it to dominate them."

Patricia gave him a grim smile. "You will likely regret this."

"I don't think so," the Imperator returned the knowing grin. "I have done exactly what I needed to do. The rest…that is up to you."

Patricia returned her focus to the battlefield in front of her, putting thoughts of the Imperator to the side as she began to do as he apparently wished. The aliens alive now were at her mercy, and she was no longer going to hold back. The Imperator was right about one thing.

There was no reason to be apologetic about using her power.

If it resulted in the unsavory deaths of aliens, then that was simply an unfortunate price to pay in this war. But there would be no mercy today.

The aliens would die. All of them.

---

Sacramento, California – United States of America

Operation: Sherman – Day 3

11/23/2016 – 12:42 A.M.

The good news was that they were still alive, and in fairly good condition. The bad news was that they weren't making much progress.

Despite finally getting reinforcements from ADVENT, the aliens were finally employing enough defensive tactics to hold ADVENT back. That, and they'd been far more liberal in their usage of the Spectres. Multiple offensives have been slowed to a halt once one showed up, and even with Geist sharing his tactics, they didn't always fully work.

The aliens had also been sending a much higher ratio of aliens to their now-commandeered fortress, which had been under constant assault for…the past day? Nuan didn't really remember, only that she had fallen into the pattern of moving, shooting, reloading, and repeating that. There were more Spectres, but those were immediately targeted by Geist before they could get very far.

The alien captives had been taken away, luckily, so there was no chance of those being lost. ADVENT had some, but Geist had ensured that XCOM took the ones he deemed the most important. Nuan didn't know what they meant, since she hadn't been involved in that deal, but it really seemed like the aliens wanted their fortress back now.

There were more of those mechanical Muton Elites, and even with the Goliath firing at them, the mass of enhanced and standard units was reaching critical levels. Nuan scowled as she took down one of the augmented Vitakarians, and then ducked down as a hail of green plasma shot her way, and continued unabated until a purple barrier appeared between her and the aliens.

"Thanks," she called to Iosif who just nodded before erecting another barrier in front of some other ADVENT soldiers. She dashed to another place along the wall, and found herself on one of the corners, which did have some plasma turrets which ADVENT had repurposed. They were manual emplacements and given that Nuan had seen a concentrated barrage destroy a Sectopod, XCOM really needed to get working on plasma tech.

It was also the corner where the heaviest fighting was taking place, and thus, Geist was in the center of it. The man would never admit it, but even Nuan could tell he was getting tired and his concentration was stretched to the absolute limit. Now the man looked rather annoyed, even as he maintained three different barriers in front of hunkering soldiers.

"Need help?" She asked, reloading her weapon.

"Quite likely," Geist said, sounding more of an admission than anything. "It appears the Overmind, or whatever Ethereal was protecting the soldiers, discovered what I was doing. Unfortunate, but it was unlikely to last forever."

"What's your plan?"

Geist eyed the mass of approaching aliens, a group of no fewer than twenty Spectres leading them. "Unfortunately, I think we're going to need to call for help."

Nuan glanced over at him. "Who?"

"The Archangels have been causing trouble for the aliens across the city," Geist answered, pressing a button on his wrist. "And right now, we need a destructive Leviathan right here."

There was only one Archangel Nuan could think of that fit that description. "Hammarström?"

"Hammarström," he confirmed, raising the wrist to his mouth. "Seraph Hammarström, I request your assistance at my position. We have a severe alien overpopulation issue."

"Wow, it must be bad if you're calling, Geist," Viktoria Hammarström answered. "On my way now. So what's the situation?"

Geist walked to the edge, one barrier maintained in front of him as he appraised the situation. "I would estimate two hundred total enemies, with a minimum of twenty Spectres. They largely have the northern positions, and we are holding everything below that. I suspect more are in, or behind the buildings."

"You care a lot about the buildings?"

"No. Raze them to the ground."

"Got it. Hope ADVENT doesn't mind the mess."

Geist raised one eyebrow at that. "They would rather have a captured damaged city than retreating from an intact one."

"That was a joke, Geist," she snorted. "Seriously, you're going to kill someone over a misunderstanding one day."

Geist did not look amused. "Please do your job, Seraph."

All he got in return was a laugh before she clicked off. It sounded like they'd spoken before, although Nuan didn't know when that would have-

"In the Training Arena," Geist answered her mental inquiry. "As a Leviathan, she provides an excellent means of testing my own abilities. She is trustworthy and is capable of doing as I requested."

Well, so apparently Geist had people on a scale of trustworthiness. Lovely. She somehow doubted she was high on that list. "You are correct," Geist nodded again. "As a Chinese operative, your split loyalties do not contribute well to an organization like XCOM where our loyalty should only be to our species. The Chinese have not proven-"

"Oh, shut up," Nuan growled, really, really wanting to punch him in his smug face. "Do you really think that we don't care about our species?"

"You are an appeasement to the Commander," Geist said coldly. "Or rather, a peace offering. You are not a spy, but your loyalty is ultimately not with XCOM. That makes you untrustworthy from a practical standpoint."

"We'll see what the Commander has to say about that," Nuan growled, turning away and ready to shoot some more aliens. "I've put up with your garbage for long enough. You're no leader, and certainly not someone who should be a squad overseer. Have some respect for your soldiers."

Geist fixed her with an icy stare. "You don't need to tell the Commander anything. We have more important issues to focus on."

It took a second, but she had to admit he was probably right. Any issues she had could be figured out after the battle was over, and maybe she was making things seem worse in the heat of battle. "You're right," she said almost automatically. "We have more important issues to focus on."

The ghost of a smile flickered across his face. "I'm glad to hear it." A roar overhead reached her ears, and Nuan looked up to see an Archangel streak overhead. "And it appears Viktoria has arrived."

The Archangel hovered in the air, purple energy consolidated around her, and after a bright purple pulse, she extended a hand downwards to the alien line, and the entire battlefield exploded. It looked to Nuan as though a storm composed of nothing but purple lighting had descended upon the aliens. It was a blanket that covered it so completely and densely that she could barely see into it.

The Archangel swept her free hand in a semi-circle and the storm expanded further back. The buildings caught in the maelstrom first didn't do anything but blacken, and the more delicate aspects of them were torn to pieces. Cloth was disintegrated, cars fell apart, glass shattered, and stone blackened and cracked.

The storm suddenly rose higher, until it engulfed not just the ground, but the very air that rested in the territory controlled by the aliens. The buildings were similarly engulfed, and after a few minutes of the purple storm, they fell apart as if only held together by poorly-glued stones. One fell, than another, then one by one, and the storm extended far enough that Nuan was almost sure it was a mile or more. At least five or six blocks.

Then as if a switch had been flicked, Viktoria let the psionic fire fade and the maelstrom almost died immediately. Nuan looked in amazement at the aftermath. The storm had essentially eaten away at several inches of the ground, no alien corpses were anywhere to be seen, the ground was blackened and the buildings were now reduced to small scattered stones.

An entire section of the city had just been completely razed. Geist hadn't been exaggerating.

The psion looked towards the Archangel. "Well done, Seraph Hammarström."

The Archangel gave a mock salute before speeding off, presumably to destroy something else. The battlefield was eerily quiet for once. The first it had been in some time. "We have a reprieve," Geist stated. "Get some rest, everyone. They'll be back. And if they aren't, we will advance forward. Even if we destroy half this city, we will take it for ADVENT."

His words were met with some cheers and whoops. Nuan also couldn't help but feel emboldened by what she had witnessed. But she did wonder just how far they could push the aliens before they felt the need to hit back twice as hard.

She had a feeling they were going to find out what that meant.

---

Los Angeles, California – United States of America

11/24/2016 – 1:01 P.M.

The Battlemaster did not like waiting so long to actually respond to threats, but Fectorian repairing his armor had forced it. In the meantime, he'd brought in enough Cleanser Ships to drive ADVENT back, and attempt to mitigate the ground damage as much as possible. The Hunter had been brought back and was currently regenerating in a very secure cell.

He would be dealt with after the battle was over.

However, now he had to figure out exactly how the Overmind was being subverted by not one, but two Humans. Patricia was obviously one of them, but he was not aware of the other. The First Guardian would likely deal with whoever it was though, and the Overmind appeared to have learned about the interference as the telepath wasn't affecting his forces much.

Although that flying Archangel psion was another problem that was almost as bad.

Not his concern, currently, as the situation in Los Angeles had somehow gotten stranger. The Replicas seeded throughout the lines noted that the soldiers seemed to be suffering strange biological ailments. Some began throwing up, some suffocated to death. Others keeled over, and preliminary reports showed that their hearts or brains had just…stopped.

And it didn't necessarily kill either. Some just collapsed bonelessly to the ground, and the medics hadn't been able to figure out how, except for a far-out theory that all their nerves and muscles had just stopped working. No one knew what was going on, except that as a result, ADVENT was getting dangerously close to taking the city.

And now he needed to put a stop to it.

"I have located the primary center of XCOM forces," the voice of a Replica updated as he stepped through a gateway. "GOLIATH-class MEC trooper. Accompanied by two XCOM soldiers. Sending coordinates and directions."

The Battlemaster received the information, and immediately transmitted it to the Cleanser Ships. "Begin orbital bombardment of all ADVENT forces outside this position. I will handle the ones remaining."

"Acknowledged, Battlemaster," one of the Andromedons answered. "Bombardment will begin momentarily. Transmitting target coordinates for reference."

The Battlemaster flourished his blade and began dashing towards the center of XCOM activity. Along the way he passed dozens of Collective soldiers who had died without having a shot fired at them. He had only seen something like this…centuries ago, back in the War. This was a technique that he had only heard of Overminds performing.

While not a telepath, and such powers were useless against him, he had been required to know how it worked and the capabilities such a psion posed militarily. And this was a technique that, if he recalled correctly, hit lower brain functions and targeted the physiology of the targets themselves, effectively bypassing standard psionic defenses and supposedly extremely difficult to actually prevent.

What he didn't understand was how a Human had been able to figure this out. The technique was so difficult, he presumed, because a psion had to not only figure out how to send commands on that level, but also conceptualize and envision something on as close to cellular as could likely be imagined.

Many Ethereals, if they were not master telepaths, couldn't even begin to master that, although admittedly, actual investigation into such a usage of psionics had only really developed during the war, so perhaps that would have changed. But for a Human to learn it so quickly…it was unsettling. He felt there was something else going on that he wasn't aware of.

However, if all went well, Patricia would die today, along with any XCOM soldiers accompanying her.

He encountered a group of ADVENT soldiers engaged with several Cyberdisks, and immediately dashed forward, slashing with his sword and decapitating half of them, before telekinetically grasping the other ones and snapping their spines. He barely glanced over to the corpses, since more soldiers faced him; surprised shouts and backpeddling punctuating their movements.

The ground suddenly began shaking as yellow streaks rained down from the skies and the Cleanser Ships began their bombardment. Unlike D.C. though, it was not just one or two volleys, but now a continuous barrage into the designated areas. Explosions punctuated by screams of pain in the distance indicated the bombardment was having the intended effect.

In the meantime, the Battlemaster continued his bloody path forward. As with D.C., he did not bother taking his time killing the soldiers, and focused only on the most effective attacks. Most of the time they didn't know they were being attacked before he killed them. Instantaneous deaths were preferable, and he distributed them liberally.

He did not know how much time had passed until the Goliath came into view, but during that time the bombardment had not ceased, although it was now moving to other parts of the city. They were fighting a Sectopod and more Cyberdisks, although the Goliath was proving to be more than enough to handle even them.

However, the Goliath had never faced a Battlemaster before, and it never would again.

He was faced with the interesting prospect of fighting something that was actually larger than him, but it wasn't insurmountable by any means. One of the XCOM soldiers shouted a warning as he dashed forward, though didn't get another word out before the Battlemaster telekinetically snapped his neck.

Another hand thrust out and sent another XCOM soldier and nearby ADVENT soldiers flying back before the Battlemaster turned his full attention to the Goliath who had now moved to face him. The MEC began firing at him with the railgun weapon, while slots opened up on the shoulder that immediately shot missiles his direction.

The Battlemaster had two options: Dodge or catch.

He skidded to a stop, planted his feet and created a telekinetic field to catch all the rockets and projectiles; once all were caught, he sent them back towards the Goliath with a gesture. The MEC was too slow to fully get out of the way, and took several direct hits to its torso. The ones that missed went randomly into ADVENT soldiers behind it, causing more damage.

The Battlemaster dashed forward and stabbed forward into a gap in the Goliath's waist, one of the clearest vulnerabilities. The blade easily cut deep, and the Battlemaster pushed it close to the hilt, while lifting a hand to telekinetically catch the metal fist coming to punch him. A squeezed fist crushed the hand, and another grasp removed the weapon from the MEC and made it useless.

The Battlemaster pulled out his blade, and leapt upwards and buried it in the head of the MEC, the force of his attack forcing it to fall backwards. On the ground, he looked towards the chest where the more vital equipment most likely was, and where the pilot probably would be. He used to hands to telekinetically pull the gaps wider apart, and followed up by stabbing downwards into the suit.

When he pulled up his blade, it was stained with fresh blood, so he presumed the pilot was dead.

He looked out towards the ADVENT soldiers, who were falling back in a furious retreat as they saw the MEC fall, as well as the steady bombardment all around them. The Battlemaster decided to take his time from that point onwards, as the ultimate goal was to drive ADVENT back now. If Patricia died, that was a bonus, and he would also like to learn exactly how she had learned this ability, but if he didn't, he would simply keep attacking whenever she appeared.

He would kill her one day. It was only a matter of time.

"Battlemaster," the Andromedon gunner updated. "We report that ADVENT forces have suffered severe casualties and appear to be in retreat in all sectors. Shall we continue bombardment?"

"Continue it," the Battlemaster commanded as he killed three more soldiers. "Do not cease until they are out of range."

"Understood. Maintaining bombardment."

---

Sacramento, California – United States of America

Operation: Sherman – Day 3

11/24/2016 – 2:18 P.M.

And the assault had been going so well.

Oliver supposed that the Collective deciding to shoot them from orbit was inevitable. The aliens wouldn't want to lose their only hold on the United States, even if this would be considered 'cheating', at least by the standards of the Battlemaster. The bombardment hadn't come down on their position yet for some reason, but Oliver and most everyone else chalked that up to the ships just not getting to them yet.

Although it wasn't as large of a problem for them, since they were a moderately smaller, spread out group unlike the clustered soldiers at the taken fortress and the large groups of ADVENT reinforcements. He supposed it was lucky they'd decided to keep pushing forward otherwise they might have been targeted.

But now they were in the heart of the city, and they needed to make a decision about where to go next. Continuing the attack seemed to be, for most everyone, a bad idea. While they likely could continue forward and destroy the majority of the alien forces, and their proximity might deter orbital bombardment on their position, there was the slight problem of having absolutely no support.

ADVENT was beginning to pull back to some of the now-captured towns and small cities, a smart move at least to Oliver, but the consequence of that was they would only hold onto Sacramento, and probably the other larger cities. If they stayed, they would almost certainly be surrounded, and even Geist had to know they couldn't hold out forever without rest or backup.

Not to mention the aliens, once ADVENT was driven firmly away, would be able to completely surround them and outnumber their dwindling numbers. It appeared Geist had come to the same conclusion. "We will fall back to what the established regrouping point will be," he said after they had destroyed several Cyberdisks. "If orbital bombardment becomes a more likely threat, we have enough Priests to provide some protection."

"Probably a good plan," the leading Protopriest agreed, nodding her head. "At least the way back is cleared."

"Yes," Geist pursed his lips. "Unfortunate the Ethereals resorted to bombardment when their lack of competence was apparent. This issue will have to be rectified shortly. Move out!"

Oliver did like how utterly dismissive of the Ethereals Geist was. He suspected even Quisilia might be slightly hurt by his words. Although it would probably make one half furious, and the other half probably wouldn't be able to pick up on the subtle jabs. Too bad, it was at least one amusing part of this whole situation.

They jogged back up the roads they had come from, bypassing the hundreds of corpses and wrecks they had destroyed. Their casualties had also been extremely low in comparison, and at least Oliver could be certain that they had caused a lot more damage for the aliens than they had received…prior to the bombardment at least.

The tremors caused by it were becoming more apparent, and the yellow streaks from the sky seemed much closer than before. Geist was organizing the defensive Priests in a sort of circle around the soldiers, probably to create a kind of 'bubble' to protect them if needed. When they were all close together, Oliver did have to admit that they were now an obvious target.

A good portion of them were XCOM, special forces, or Priests, but if they ran into an especially dangerous enemy force, that might not be enough. They were now reaching what Oliver thought would be one of the riskiest parts – the desolate area that Viktoria had razed to the ground. But it appeared they weren't going that way, since Geist redirected them around.

Smart move. It would take longer going around, but it was better to have some cover from the buildings than being completely exposed. Oliver was surprised they hadn't encountered any aliens during their entire run-

"Hold," Geist commanded, raising a fist as Oliver immediately had to retract that assessment.

In the middle of the street was something that was unquestionably an Ethereal. It almost looked like the Battlemaster, but the helmet was wrong and the figure lacked the sword or the cape. It did, however, retain the massive height and size of the Battlemaster. "Fuck," he muttered to himself. This was going to get bad.

"Who is that?" Nuan asked. "I don't recognize that one."

"The First Guardian, if I recall," Geist said, narrowing his eyes. "Very dangerous. Interesting that they are appearing here. I thought they were simply bodyguards of the Imperator. Which means they must be here on his order. Curious."

"Be curious about it later," Oliver said as the Ethereal began marching towards them. Something flew into its hand from the waist. A long cylinder of some kind. Oliver could see another one hanging from the waist as well. "I think we need to do something."

"We aren't in a position to fight an Ethereal," Geist said slowly. "So we need to distract him while the soldiers escape. Guardians are telepaths. I will telepathically attack him while the Lancers and Templar we have attack, and we will fire from the back. Everyone else go around and don't look back."

An orange-yellow beam of some kind extended from the object the First Guardian was holding, the length of which looked disturbingly long, almost his own size. "Here we go," Iosif muttered as he and the Lancers began marching out to meet the Ethereal. Geist extended one hand as well, the air once more beginning to distort around him.

As the regular soldiers quickly moved away, Oliver decided he might as well try and be useful and began lining up shots against the Ethereal. The First Guardian apparently decided he was tired of the slow approach forward and leapt forward, slashing down at one of the Lancers. She raised her weapon to parry, but once it hit it was apparent both that the saber the Guardian was using was slowly cutting through the weapon, and that he was much stronger than she was.

He grasped another Lancer telekinetically and threw him into a building, before another of those weapons appeared in his lower hand and stabbed directly into the first Lancer's heart, killing her. He switched the lower saber to the opposite hand, and now they were facing a dual-wielding Ethereal.

Not good.

Oliver decided to begin firing, and the Ethereal didn't seem to be fazed by him in the slightest as he began attacking the other Lancers and Iosif. The Templar had a psionic shield around him and employed them liberally as he attacked, which did seem to be able to resist the cutting power of the buzzing sabers.

It also became apparent that, despite outnumbering the Ethereal six to one, he was very, very good at fighting multiple enemies. Two weapons, and two lower arms for telekinetic blasts back made for very effective defense as he moved from attacking one opponent to another in a span of seconds. "Hold him!" Geist commanded, and the three Telekine Priests began anchoring the Ethereal in place.

That, as it turned out, was a bad idea.

The Ethereal thrust all of his arms out in opposing directions, effectively sending all his opponents flying backwards. He drew back one of his sabers as he seemingly prepared to throw it, and another blade appeared out of the lower end. So the weapons were double-bladed as well. The First Guardian threw it towards the telekines, and the spinning yellow blade easily decapitated them, as well as Moriai and a few other soldiers.

The other side of his remaining weapon was also activated, and the First Guardian began re-engaging the close opponents with a renewed zeal. The fighting style changed completely. The weapons were no longer exclusively in the hands of the Ethereal, but he used them as telekinetic buzzsaws, sending the spinning blades out short distances towards an opponent, cutting them apart before swinging them around to a different enemy.

Three Lancers were killed within ten seconds of each other, and Iosif was barely able to keep up with the barrage of attacks coming from all sides. The Ethereal extended two arms towards the Lancers and snapped their necks to concentrate fully on the Templar. The ranged weapons were doing absolutely nothing to him, and Oliver didn't really know how they could beat him at this point.

Then the Guardian was suddenly frozen in a stasis field, a thin purple film surrounding his body. "We can't beat him here," Geist called. "Get back, I'll maintain this as long as I can."

Iosif disengaged and retreated to the remaining Humans as they began following the path the first retreating group had left. "What about you?" Oliver demanded.

"I'll be with you," Geist said, face beaded with sweat and an intense look of concentration on his face. "I just may be slower. I don't have to be here to maintain the field. The psion is powerful, and thus, easy to locate. I will be slower, however, and his telepathic attacks will become more intense since he can't move."

"Fine! Fine!" Oliver said, as they all began running away from the Ethereal. "Then let's get out of here."

Geist nodded, and slowly returned his extended hand to his side, clenched in a fist. At a nod, he joined the rest of them in retreating. The orbital bombardment now seemed like the least of their worries when they had an Ethereal chasing after them.

Such things certainly gave him perspective on just how bad it could go.

And orbital bombardment was definitely preferable to this.

---

ADVENT Military Command – Switzerland

11/25/2016

Over the past couple of days the security at ADVENT's main military command center had, to the Commander's subjective eye, at minimum tripled. It was completely necessary due to the presence of Chinese military officials, and the coordination between ADVENT and China that had taken place non-stop since the negotiations had been finished.

ADVENT and China had both agreed that they would not announce any alliance until the operation to retake Japan was well underway. He did quite like that the name they had proposed for it was Dǎotái, which roughly translated to Downfall. Operation Downfall. Knowing China, he suspected that the fact that it shared the same name as the proposed invasion of Japan back during World War II was not a coincidence.

The Chinese liked their symbolism. So did he, for that matter, and Operation Downfall it had become.

If it went well, it could very well herald a shift in the war, or at least more than what was already done. It was clear that the war would be different once the fighting died down, but this would ramp up the escalation to levels he honestly wasn't sure they were prepared for. But it was ultimately inevitable. Escalation would come, and he preferred that they dictated the pace of this war, not the Collective.

It was unfortunate that Operation Sherman hadn't been able to achieve its goal, but that had, in his estimation, accomplished the absolute most it could do. If they had actually managed to push the Collective out of America entirely, it would have been a miracle. But as it stood, they had pushed them back to deep California, Seattle, and unfortunately a growing part of Canada and Alaska.

That had always been a risk, but even now there were solutions being put into practice. He expected Saudia to approve them shortly.

In the meantime, he'd drawn back his XCOM soldiers to the Citadel for a brief recovery. Days of straight fighting took their toll, and ADVENT could corner the Collective in California without their help, and Japan was going to be the operation he needed everyone to be on. South Korea was still holding strong, especially with that sniper taken out of the picture, although Agent Gertrude had been wounded.

Zhang had given him a brief explanation of why she was there, and the immediate implications were extremely unsettling.

On one hand, whoever the Chronicler represented was no friend of the Collective.

On the other, it meant that Aegis had lied to him, or didn't know as much about the Sovereign Ones as he claimed.

He was betting more on that latter. That was an issue to figure out when the operation was ended. China had proposed several strategies for dealing with the Ethereals that showed up, which largely consisted of throwing absurd amounts of soldiers and explosives at them, which the Commander felt was perhaps the most ineffective solution possible.

It was one thing if they were on equal or greater technological levels, and even then, he wasn't a proponent of the 'send soldiers on suicide missions' doctrine. It was wasteful, lowered morale, and implied that whoever was in charge wasn't creative enough to develop an actual solution. Granted, against Ethereals there really were no good solutions, but he didn't approve of sending soldiers to die for the sake of it.

China was also definitely holding something back. The first clue to that had been their request to have several hundred terabytes of video footage of both the Ethereals and Collective. Reasonable, although he didn't know what they would do with it in time for the invasion, which would take place in one or two days.

The second had been that their commanding general for the invasion hadn't specifically been chosen. There were clear advisors, but no main commander from what he'd understood. That seemed odd to him, but they hadn't acted like that was even something worth bringing up. Perhaps they had decided that ahead of time, but it was still odd.

The third had been the Chinese armor designs themselves. They were more based on the original Israeli prototypes, with smoother armor and rounded helmets. They were, of course, colored grey with red and gold tints. The aesthetic wasn't the interesting part, it was what was in the armor. Because it appeared that China had made their suits resistant against EMP and given every single one extensive wireless capability.

It was arguably better than ADVENT's, since the parts used could allow the wearer to communicate with someone thousands of miles away. It wasn't the shorter comm ranges in typical ADVENT armor. Foresight or was there something else going on?

The Commander didn't know, and he supposed he would have to see it in action. Soon everyone's cards would be on the table, including his own. Now that he was in his private room, which he'd made sure to scan for bugs and listening devices, he pulled out one of the newer holocommunicators XCOM had begun developing.

This one a direct line to Aegis. The Ethereal appeared in his hand, the ghostly blue figure appraising him. "Commander, you have need of me?"

He smirked at that. Not really a better opening line from him. "Yes, Aegis, this time I do. The operation will be starting within days. It is…highly likely that the Collective will send an Ethereal in retaliation, yes?"

"Almost certainly," Aegis agreed. "I suspect Caelior. This is a situation where Battlemaster would be willing to unleash him. Perhaps Isomnum as there is no civilian presence. But given the choice, I would assume Caelior would be willing and able to fulfill the Battlemaster's retribution."

"Right," well, here went nothing. "Which is why you're going to ensure that China-and my soldiers-don't get massacred in Japan."

Aegis was silent a few moments. "I believe we have discussed that it is not time for me to-"

"Yes, we did," the Commander interrupted firmly. "And that was before we were facing nanoweapons, our capital cities being attacked, and sustained orbital bombardment. It was also before we were using nukes as EMP weapons, having armies of psions, six Ethereals taking part in the war, and launching operations to kick the aliens out of our countries."

He paused. "The war has escalated without your intervention. It is not going to go down. You've been an observer long enough. Your assistance with our science and psionic teams is appreciated, but it's time you do more than that if you want to stay with us. Pick a side, Aegis. Refusing to help will not be tolerated any longer."

The Commander wasn't quite sure how he could realistically back that up, but at minimum it would force Aegis to either attack them, or leave. While having an Ethereal ally was an advantage, he had already provided them with everything he could. He was a useful psionic trainer, but they could eventually do that themselves.

There was little point having an Ethereal ally if they ultimately didn't do anything beyond giving advice. He'd allowed that long enough.

"And what happens if that prompts the Imperator to respond?" Aegis said calmly. "What if he decides there is no point prolonging this war? You are thinking in the short term here, Commander. Yes, I could assist you, but there are consequences I cannot accurately predict, and ones you certainly cannot."

"Then we deal with them," the Commander said bluntly. "Aegis, what point is acceptable for you? Is it when Saudia dies? Is it when the Collective decides to wipe out a continent? Because of the danger that the Collective can just end the war? That isn't going away. What you are doing, is being a coward."

Aegis stiffened. "I beg your pardon?"

"Yes," the Commander repeated. "You are being a coward. See, this might not be as serious for you as it is for us. You left the Collective because you disagreed with them. Fine. I can't argue with that. But you also don't want to commit to one side or another. You're not doing anything, not because of some fear of escalation, but because if we lose…you want an out. You want to claim that you never fought against them, and everything you did was to make a point to the Imperator. That's a bit harder to claim if you actually take a stand for one side or another."

He narrowed his eyes. "For us, Aegis, this isn't a disagreement, this is a matter of survival. You should know better than anyone the fear of our species being exterminated or enslaved. You don't have to worry about that, as I doubt the Imperator would execute you, even if you did assist us, but we do. This is a war that your species caused, an unjust and cowardly war if I may add, and if you actually mean anything you said; if you actually want to show you are on our side…prove it."

The Commander took a single short breath. "This is technically a request, but this is where you need to make a decision this time. Help us, and show you are on our side beyond your word, or leave. There is no place for apathy for those in XCOM anymore. Help us or leave. That choice is yours."

Aegis was silent against that for a few moments. "ADVENT will not like that you hid this."

"I will handle ADVENT," the Commander said. "And we had reasons. You stayed quiet in the assumption that the Collective would not escalate the conflict. This has changed, and there is no reason to hide yourself any longer. You should not be concerned about the Human reaction of all things."

"There would be fallout," Aegis noted. "But you likely know that already."

"Of course."

"This is curious," Aegis mused, sounding oddly thoughtful. "You are the second one to accuse me of cowardice in recent days. The Battlemaster said something similar. I have never considered myself as such, but I hadn't looked at it from those points of view. There is a self-preservation instinct I have, which is to deflect problems instead of solve them…and that is one place I can improve over time."

He looked to the Commander. "Very well, Commander. I will once more take the field of battle. I can only hope that both of us are prepared for the consequences."