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.

40. Creating the Future

Creating the Future

---

Outside Fort McMurray, Alberta – Canada

1/4/2017 – 8:11 P.M.

Four more disappearances. It was time to either determine the cause of the killings, or catch the perpetrators causing the scouts and deep patrol teams to vanish. Enough was enough, and she did not want to report to Alberta-3 that her forces were being bled dry. The Sargon was not like regular Mutons, and from one conversation she knew she was dealing with an alien smarter than her.

Runi'falia'borelia marched into the snowy forests where the soldiers had gone missing. She had initially felt fortunate to be assigned to a place on this planet with something resembling an acceptable climate, even if it wasn't quite as nice as Borelia proper. It could have been far worse, she could have been assigned to Australia.

She shivered.

Instead, she'd been placed in charge of a small city which had been easily taken over by Collective forces, and was instructed to keep the population in line, catalogue the number of citizens, and fortify the cities for eventual counterattack. The first thing she'd done was prepare all non-essential civilians for processing to a more secure location. Women and children mostly, the males were useful as labor, and there were specialists that knew the area, methods, systems, and additional information about Humans.

Processing was nearly forty percent done, and the population was largely placated. No unrest, and cooperation was acceptable. The problem was not within the city, but beyond it. Falia suspected the culprits were either ADVENT stragglers, or hunters known to inhabit the land and not necessarily live in the cities. There was reason to suspect such, given that the bodies that had managed to be recovered showed signs of death by unconventional or less powerful weaponry than ADVENT standard.

Most of the time bodies weren't found at all. Falia wondered grimly if they'd been eaten. She knew Humans didn't typically eat sapient life…but she wouldn't put it past some of the more savage Humans to do so. The stories of Human cannibals were…unsettling. Over twenty had died since their initial takeover, and only three had been able to be recovered.

However, four at a time was unusual. Normally it was one or two stragglers. Four implied that this was now a concerted effort, if it hadn't been so before. Either they were now facing an actual ADVENT resistance, or there were stragglers working together to pick off her soldiers. No longer tolerable.

Twenty-five soldiers equipped in battle armor, thermal detection, and the finest weapons of the Collective would be more than adequate to deal with whatever stragglers they are dealing with. The force was mostly Borelians, but there were a few Vitakarian support soldiers and a Dath'Haram medic in case that was actually needed.

Along with two Humans, both of whom knew the area well and were animal hunters. Falia didn't intend to use them as hostages, but if it came down to between protecting her soldiers or Humans, the choice was clear. "There is no animal which could kill them, is there?" She asked one of the bundled Humans, a short male with light skin.

"Not one that lives in this area," the man answered, shrugging. "A bear definitely could, but the problem is that they're likely hibernating, and more importantly, don't live in this part of the country. Nothing venomous either. Afraid you don't have an easy answer here."

"Have you heard anything about this?" She growled. "Within the city? From the people?"

"No one's sad about it," the man said slowly. "But no contact, if that's what you mean. Not surprised though, you're dealing with people who excel in hunting animals down. Aliens aren't too much different."

"Is there anything in particular we should look for?" Runi'baliaha'borelia asked, another Borelian soldier. "You know how these people think."

"We can make guesses, we're not mind readers," the second Human said. "But you'll want to look for signs of activity. Fires, food, blood, anything out of the ordinary. Tracks will be covered up in the snowfall, and if they're smart they'll be covering their tracks anyway."

Falia bared her teeth. "Will they have ways of controlling their body heat?"

The first Human snorted. "These are hunters, not ADVENT. No."

That was good enough. "All soldiers switch to thermal," she said. "They won't be able to hide from us."

"There may be traps as well," one of her Vitakarian soldiers commented, raising his rifle. "Watch for those."

"Agreed," Falia motioned for the Humans to go to a duo of soldiers. "Watch them. They'll have either left or we'll kill or capture them."

They nodded, then she and the remaining soldiers began fanning out into the woods, thermal vision on as they searched for the hunters. The trees were not thick, but they were dense and the woods were close to silent as they walked through them. The snow crunched under their feet as the darkness grew deeper.

She idly wondered if this should have been done when there had been more light. The problem was that she also wanted to bait these hunters out, and give them the illusion they would have the advantage if it was dark instead of light. Now that she was actually here, she wondered if it was a more significant advantage than she had first assumed.

"We've lost one!"

She turned towards the sound of the voice, as a couple of her soldiers came running up. "We turned around, and he was gone," the first explained immediately. "No sound or thermal detection."

They were here then. "Hostiles in the area," she said through her linked intercom. "Regroup on my position."

There were multiple acknowledgements…and a disturbing amount who didn't report in at all. A few minutes later she was standing in front of a force which was half the size it had been. Something it seemed the majority of soldiers hadn't noticed until now. "Did nobody see them?" She demanded. "How could there be no trace they were here?"

No one had an answer, and she thought for a moment, thinking of a way to salvage this. Much as she hated to admit it, retreating might be the smartest idea. Whoever these Humans were, they were very good, and almost certainly more numerous than she'd been expecting. Still, the thermal should have picked at least something up-

She heard something whistle in the air, and at a glance up saw a sphere-like object…"Grenade!" She yelled as she was already moving. "Down!"

A bright orange flash and boom followed, as a half dozen grenades landed around them, killing some of the clustered soldiers outright and wounding others. Her armor had absorbed the worst of the one closest to her, but she'd been on the outer edge of the blast radius. Sharp cracks suddenly rang out, and soldiers around her began falling, helmets punctured by firearms.

Stumbling upright, she then caught her first glimpse of the ones that they had been pursuing. But these were not hunters, they were quite clearly trained soldiers. Their armor was slim, colored a mix of whites and greys, and thinner than standard ADVENT armor. The helmets were blank faces which didn't expose any skin, and now that she noticed, no skin at all was exposed.

She quickly switched to thermal and saw her suspicion was frighteningly correct. There was no thermal presence, despite this soldier standing right in front of her.

There were at least four, carrying shotguns, pistols and rifles as they executed the soldiers she had foolishly clustered together. She raised her own rifle until she felt a calm feeling sweep over her, one which made her hesitate before aiming, let alone shooting.

"Oh, no," the soft voice of a Human woman said right beside her. "You're coming with us. We've got questions for you."

Inexplicably, Falia felt like she was going to collapse on her feet and fall asleep.

Much to her drowsy surprise, she did, and fell first to her knees, and then on her face in the cold and soft snow of Canada.

---

Canadian Wilderness – Canada

1/4/2017 – 10:11 P.M.

In truth, the area where they'd brought the Borelian leader was not far away from their 'main' base, if it actually deserved such a name. At best it was a camp, one of four in the area. It just happened to be the one he was primarily working out of now. But this place they were at in the woods now was isolated, foreboding, and intimidating.

Perfect for an interrogation.

They didn't necessarily need to conduct one, but Neil didn't want to rely on psionics unless absolutely necessary. That kind of power didn't sit right with him, regardless of if it was being used on aliens or not. The Borelians might have looked like animals, but that didn't mean they would be treated as such.

While they were alive, in any case.

Two soldiers in ADVENT Snowtrooper armor stood behind the alien who'd been stripped of weapons and heavy armor. On her knees, she was still in the psionically-induced sleep thanks to Cycelea. The Inquisitor was at his side, while he was also flanked by Adam, a Molosser Handler who had one of the genetically modified dogs at his side.

The hound was huge, with a purebred wolf as the initial base instead of the standard German Shepherd. A bit too large for Neil to feel comfortable around, but the hound was a ferocious fighter and an excellent tracker, as well as exceptionally well-behaved. It was, however, baring it's teeth and focusing the bright MELD-infused eyes on the alien.

At a single command, Adam could let the dog rip the Borelian apart. Not a pleasant way to die, and Neil wondered if the dog had developed a taste for Borelians after being fed several corpses they'd recovered earlier. Well, the dog had seemed to like it either way, even if he was messy with it.

Neil looked to Cycelea. "You can wake her whenever."

"One moment." The Inquisitor walked up to her and placed two fingers on the temple of the unconscious alien. She'd explained it was easier if she had physical contact with the being whose mind she wanted to control, and Neil had decided to accept that. It did make some degree of sense.

All of them were still in Snowtrooper armor, and he didn't plan on revealing any of their faces. Not only because it was dangerous due to the cold, but because he didn't want anyone picking out his face if this alien was psionically interrogated. Not to mention there was a certain intimidation factor he could exploit.

From what he knew of Borelians they wouldn't be able to be coerced easily, and were resistant to pain. However, to his knowledge this had never been tested psionically. He supposed that was one good thing about psionics; it removed the need to inflict pain. Why bother when you could take what you needed straight from their minds?

The alien slowly opened her eyes, then tried recoiling once she saw the trio in front of her. The hound growled, as Neil raised a hand. "Don't struggle, or you'll be subdued again."

Cycelea drew upon her power, briefly illuminating her form with a purple aura. The Borelian stopped, as Neil had hoped, recognizing the signs of psionic powers. "Yes," Neil confirmed. "She's a psion. A telepath." The eyes of the alien widened at that.

"She's definitely spooked at that," Cycelea said through their internal comms, unheard by the Borelian. "Psionics in general seems to unsettle Borelians."

"Now," Neil continued, as if he hadn't heard Cycelea. "I'm not exactly a fan of relying on that kind of thing, mind reading and all that," he idly motioned with a hand. "But at the same time, I have work to do, so unless you want her poking around in your mind, you'll answer my questions. You understand me?"

"Yes." A low voice answered, not distinctly female compared to Human voices, but having heard both genders of the race speak, it definitely wasn't as deep as a male.

"Good," he crossed his arms. "Who knows you're out here?"

"Several of my Captains. No one else. We assumed it was a group of hunters."

Just what he wanted to hear. "We did our jobs then. So you could return without raising questions?"

"You killed all of my soldiers!" She growled up at him. "That will raise questions."

Neil smiled under his helmet. "Incorrect. We only killed about half of your forces; the rest we're…holding. It wouldn't be an unbelievable story if you were to be ambushed, and eventually retreat. Perfectly believable."

"I won't do that, I refuse to help an enemy," she spat. "You will have to kill me."

"Really," Neil said dryly. "I don't recall saying you had a choice. This was me…" he paused. "Thinking out loud. I don't want you, I want your superior. The one managing Collective territory here."

"Then you want Sargon Alberta-3," she said. "But you won't be able to kill him. And if you do…they will send another."

Neil ignored her comment. "How many Sargons are there?"

"Three in total."

Neil nodded; that was good. Sargons as far as he knew weren't cheap, so killing them would hurt the Collective, even if they would eventually be replaced. Cut off the head, cause damage, and repeat. The Sargons were the most dangerous threat now, and if he was too aggressive, they might take direct action, and he wasn't confident he could outwit three of them.

But strike before they all noticed? A plan with much higher odds.

"Do you have their locations?" He asked. "As well as the locations and names of other Human City Overseers?"

She bared her teeth. "I know where the Sargons are stationed, and I have access to the data on occupied Human settlements. But I will not provide them to you, as I have not memorized them. Even your psion can't pry something I do not know."

"Unnecessary," Neil said. "Here is what is going to happen. You'll return and continue as normal. However, you'll turn over every detail of your operations to one of my operatives. As well as the names, locations, and as much information as possible on all Collective officers and leadership. In return, when ADVENT liberates this area, you'll be given a comfortable cell and a positive recommendation for your trial."

"No," the Borelian stated. "I will not."

"I'm afraid you will," Neil said, waving Cycelea forward. "While I'm not a fan of psionics, it does have its uses, and sadly I cannot take the chance that you'll try and screw us over. Cycelea will ensure you do exactly as I say, as will all the other soldiers we have. Don't worry, she's said it won't hurt."

"No…" the Borelian interrupted, the fight suddenly out of her. "Don't let that happen! I don't want her in my mind! I'll do what you want."

Neil hesitated. "Perhaps, but I have no guarantee. And that is just not good enough for me. My objective is more important than your mind." He looked to the Inquisitor. "How long will it take?"

"The last one took just over an hour," she said, stepping forward as the Borelian tried shrinking back. "I don't think this one will be more difficult."

"Report back to me when it's done," he said, turning away. "And good job."

Ignoring the sounds of the Borelian roaring in protest before being abruptly cut off, he began making his way back to the camp with Adam. "Think this'll work?"

"If the Inquisitors do their job, it will," Neil said. "I intend to make this a test run. See how much we can get away with here. The Sargons are the priority, however, and we should move to remove them as soon as possible."

Adam nodded. "Think we can make it look like an accident? Or take a Sargon over?"

"An accident? Possibly. Take one over…no," Neil recalled what he'd been given. "Sargons have their own version of Manchurian Restraints. Besides, I wouldn't risk keeping one alive. But I am hoping with our newly acquired Overseer, we can lure them to places of our choosing."

"The others might catch onto that," Adam grunted as he patted the hound on the head. "Especially if it happens twice in a row."

"Which is why we ideally take control of another Overseer," Neil said. "And launch the ops to kill the Sargons at once. With three Inquisitors and ADVENT's best snipers, we can pull it off."

"All at once?" Adam asked thoughtfully. "We're not exactly an army."

"We don't need to be," Neil said. "We just need a few good men and women to be at the right place at the right time."

"I'll take your word for it," Adam looked around the forest as he saw the camp coming up. "I don't suppose we'll be having something different to eat tonight?"

"Fresh Borelian meat," Neil chuckled. "Some of the guys are actually going to try it. Your dog can have what's left."

"Ugh," Adam was probably grimacing under his helmet. "Something just seems wrong about that."

"Well, that's what rations and deer meat are for," Neil patted the man on the back. "But we all do what we must to survive, and aliens are as good a food source as anything. It's not like it's cannibalism."

"Technically."

Neil smiled. If their biggest arguments were what to do with the corpses they had, then so far things were going well.

Now they had to wait and see how well the Inquisitors had done their jobs.

---

ADVENT Diplomatic Command - Switzerland

1/12/2017 – 9:19 A.M.

"Polls are looking quite promising," Kyong said as they reviewed the latest international and diplomatic news of note. "The Royal Family coming out in support of joining ADVENT has greatly boosted the popularity of the referendum."

"Prince Mason came through," Saudia nodded approvingly. "Worth the concessions I gave him."

"For certain," Kyong agreed. "And I would argue that those 'concessions' will improve our reputation and military further. In fact, I believe Hassan is already developing a number of diplomatic avenues exploiting our dedication to preserving and protecting the culture of nations and our species. And Laura receives her melee unit for the military without having to rely on the Lancers."

"A win-win for everyone involved," Hassan said with a smile. "Are you sure you weren't a diplomat before becoming Chancellor?"

Saudia thought back to her time in EXALT. "Not formally, but I was…good…at having opposing parties come together for a shared goal. That skill has served me well."

"I believe we'll need it in the future," Hassan said. "You're developing something of a reputation among the diplomatic community, both in and out of ADVENT. People are beginning to realize that when you become personally involved, things happen. Usually good things."

"The details I leave to you, Firdaus," she said inclining her head. "But I've found that people are more amenable to offers if they're treated as equals. Respect goes a long way, especially when bringing nations into the fold."

"Speaking of which," Hassan pushed over a tablet. "We've got several interesting offers on the table here. Take a look. The Referendum, and the Seoul Massacre are shaking everything up."

Saudia picked up the tablet, read it briefly, then looked to Hassan with a raised eyebrow. "Greece, Italy, and Poland want to talk about potential integration into ADVENT. That is…a pleasant surprise. This all but shatters the EU once and for all if it happens."

"Yes it does," Hassan nodded, lightly smirking. "Which is why some of them are using their positions as leverage. They are going to want certain amenities in exchange for joining ADVENT."

"As long as they don't want exemption from laws," Saudia nodded. "So what are they?"

"Greece is in…some financial troubles," Hassan began. "I'm sure you're aware of them. They want us to cover any and all costs of leaving the EU, as well as settle any debts they have. I've passed the numbers to Jasmine and she's looking at the best way to go about this while ensuring we recover quickly. It's certainly feasible though."

"And the other two?"

"Guaranteed protection, mostly," Hassan gave a humorless smile. "Modern ADVENT tech, weapons, amenities; what they would get regardless. Of course I said we could provide it, but we can let them think it's a concession we are making."

Saudia smiled back. "Of course. This shouldn't be too difficult. Have we heard anything from the SAS?"

"Nothing yet," Hassan shook his head. "Which is…surprising. Not even an acknowledgement, and ADVENT Intelligence has been having trouble getting eyes there, which is another concern. I feel there is more going on there than we think?"

Saudia grimaced. "Alien involvement?"

"It would make the difficulties Intelligence is facing explainable," Hassan said slowly. "But I can't say for certain. Betos did know quite a lot about the inner workings of ADVENT, although now her information is significantly out of date."

"I'll have to speak to Elizabeth about that," Saudia said, thinking. "We have Inquisitors now. If they ultimately penetrate or not…it will reveal a great deal."

"In the meantime…" Kyong looked to his own tablet. "Further talks with the Chinese are upcoming. They'll be wanting some more of our technology, especially since they're helping us with our own AI projects."

"We can likely spare some technology," Saudia said. "Feng has finalized ETC weaponry, which would provide a massive boost to the Chinese specifically. Not on the level of standard ADVENT weapons, but enough to protect themselves."

Hassan frowned. "Sorry, what is this?"

Saudia rubbed her forehead. "Honestly I only remember that Feng said it would make our arsenal of previous generation weapons relevant again. You'll want to speak to him for a better idea, but I do know it will allow us to produce weapons for our militias and stockpiles fast enough to make sure every city can protect themselves within months."

"I'll speak to him about it," Kyong nodded. "Now, there is one more thing I want to bring to your attention, which I believe could potentially give us a significant diplomatic advantage going into Africa."

"Besides the alien threat?" She asked rhetorically.

"Yes," Kyong said, pressing the screen on his tablet several times. "This was sent by the Environmental Development Team of R&D. Project Greenwall. Have you heard of it?"

Saudia shook her head. "No, not that one." It was not especially surprising she didn't hear about it, there were a multitude of projects that were being worked on that she only knew the basics of, if anything beyond that. Only major projects or ones with something to show were ones she knew of. Project Greenwall was not one of them. "What is it?"

"The short version?" Kyong glanced back down. "Reversing the desertification of Africa."

Saudia just raised an eyebrow. "Really."

"It isn't quite as crazy as it sounds," Kyong explained. "The proposal is extremely thorough. Creations of artificial lakes and controlled flooding, planned forest development and soil creation, controlled livestock deployment and grazing, and plans for excavating and utilizing the excessive amounts of sand, especially in the Sahara. It's not necessarily that the technology is demanding, rather it just requires manpower, time, and dedication."

"In theory that is possible," Hassan said slowly. "But the scale of it…it would be one of the largest projects undertaken in Human history. With no actual guarantee it would actually work."

"It is a large project," Kyong said. "However, it would be a unification project, one spanning countries who would work together to better the entire continent. It would also allow these nations to contribute themselves, and feel like they are making a difference. This is especially potent for civilians." He paused. "In more practical terms, this makes Earth more habitable, and will be an exceptionally powerful tool we can use to appeal to nations to join ADVENT. This would partially be a PR stunt…but a substantial one."

"You're saying we offer this, without requesting integration into ADVENT?" Saudia frowned. "I don't agree with that. If they wish to benefit from ADVENT, they should join themselves. Should we fix Africa for them, they have no reason to join us."

"Let's be honest, Chancellor," Kyong said. "The world will eventually be under ADVENT control. It may be five or fifty years, but it will happen. Doing this, no strings attached, could speed up this process and make ADVENT more appealing. If we're seen to be willing to do this to non-ADVENT nations, imagine what it is like within our own borders?"

"There is the slight problem of this happening during an alien invasion," Saudia pointed out.

"This would not be a military project," Kyong reminded her. "It would primarily employ mostly civilians, with ADVENT oversight of course, and focus on involving the local country and economy which it takes place in. Contributing to the war effort is important, but not everyone necessarily needs to do so."

"There is something that could be done as a trial," Hassan said, who had most likely also downloaded the document on his tablet. "The project calls for the proof of concept to be done in the Middle East, a smaller area to work with which could prove the viability of it."

"An area that is fully under our control," Saudia mused. "And in the process of reconstruction."

"A regional project might have positive ramifications," Kyong said. "Something on this scale would tighten the bonds between the nations, as well as ADVENT. It would give the civilians something to do that directly benefits them."

"Of course this would likely take years to be fully realized," Hassan said. "But I imagine within half a year we could see immediate improvements."

Saudia thought for a moment. "Send this off to Tygan, Munju, Jasmine, and Marshall. Laura as well. If most of them sign off on it, let the trial run start. Add your own signatures if you wish. It could have merit, but I want other opinions. Inform the author of this project to be prepared for detailed inquires."

"Yes, Chancellor."

While Saudia did wonder if this was something ADVENT would end up doing, she was certainly going to make sure that if they won, this project would be accomplished. If nothing else, ADVENT didn't lack ambition. It would do good for the world to see that ADVENT was capable of changing the world legitimately for the better.

Of course, some might argue that the removal of an ecosystem was similarly destructive, but Saudia did not consider the loss of a desert a major loss. The wildlife would adapt or die, but the overall habitability for Humanity would rise.

More importantly, this might be the first step towards experimenting with terraforming. Earth was the first test, and if they could successfully alter the Earth, other planets in the galaxy would soon follow.

Perhaps this project would ultimately prove beneficial during the war after all.

---

ADVENT Military Base, Busan – South Korea

1/12/2017 – 10:10 A.M.

He was far from back to normal, but he supposed that having ruled out suicide or alien murder as an option, he could consider it an improvement. Enough for him to function, at least. Duri was just going with the flow at this point. Easier to fall into a routine. Do what they say. Speak to the counselors. He didn't know if they actually cared, but they at least put enough effort in to seem genuine.

Sitting under an overcast sun as ADVENT continued construction in the background, Duri kept reading the documents the consular had given to him. Physical documents, she'd said he would be able to focus more than just putting them on a tablet. Whatever the validity of it, he did like the feeling of something real in his hands.

"Didn't expect to find you here," Duri glanced behind him to see Nobuatsu walking up. Not too much of a surprise their medic was keeping an eye on him. Out of all of them, he'd likely been the most concerned with Duri doing something drastic. "Last time you went missing-"

"You don't need to worry," Duri reassured him. "I'm past that point."

"Still," Nobuatsu took a seat on the same bench. "At least tell one of us. Not a good sign when none of us know where you are, and our first instinct is…not anything pleasant."

"I'll do that," Duri promised, then sighed. "Sorry, I've…not been a good officer lately."

The man snorted. "With what you went…what you're going through, I'd be more personally concerned if you hadn't reacted. Don't apologize, just…keep us informed." He nodded to the documents in Duri's hand. "Stuff the counselors gave you?"

"So they say," Duri answered, glancing back down at them. "Whatever the Battlemaster says, the Collective was behind this. Aliens. The only way to get some measure of justice is to destroy the Collective." He pursed his lips. "So I need to learn about the aliens. Most of these are descriptions and information about them. Their biology, organizations, cultures, government, politics. The defectors are useful for something, at least."

"And you'll use it to fight them better." Nobuatsu nodded. It wasn't a question.

"To start with," Duri answered. "But I'll know what will hurt them the most. Understanding how they think will be the first step to destroying everything they care about. I don't need to strike the killing blow, but when I get the opportunity, the aliens in the Collective will suffer."

The medic chewed his lip. "Assuming ADVENT will allow you."

"ADVENT?" Duri snorted. "They won't mind how we kill aliens. They certainly aren't going to feel sorry for them. We don't need to stoop to their level to make their lives hell." He placed a finger on the paper. "It takes very little to break Vitakarian lines. Explosives and long-term weaponry shatters morale quite easily. Mutons are fodder without leadership. The Collective can't handle chaos without degenerating further. It's like they've never actually fought a war before."

"I don't think they have," Nobuatsu agreed. "Well, I don't think the Vitakarians or Mutons have."

"Andromedons seem to have experience," Duri recalled. "Their own history is quite interesting. More so than I expected. But even they were best at space guerilla warfare. Open battlefields are not their forte. Don't ask me about the Ethereals. Most of what's on them is restricted."

"Well," the man gave a wan smile. "The Ethereals don't have a good track record for wars, otherwise there would be a lot more Ethereals to worry about."

"In any event," Duri set the papers down. "They've suggested I look into applying for genetic modification."

Nobuatsu blinked. "I thought that was only restricted to special forces and essential ADVENT positions?"

"It is," Duri said. "For now. They're fast-tracking the construction of what they're calling Gene Therapy Clinics. There are two kinds from what I've heard: Civilian, which is more for handling hereditary diseases and pre-birth genetic manipulation. Then there's Military. That has the actual combat mods. Iron Skin. Enhanced Eyesight. Organ Redundancy. Supposedly ADVENT is going to make a big push for even the lowest soldiers to be modified."

He whistled. "Can they even keep up with all of that?"

"Don't know," Duri admitted. "It's ADVENT, so I wouldn't say it's out of the question. The point is that because of my…focus…he suggested I look into it, and if I agreed, I could be one of the first."

"Are you planning on it?"

"I've got nothing to lose," Duri said with a shrug. "And if it helps me kill more aliens, I'm not going to turn it down." He sighed. "I doubt my wife would have approved. She found the idea…unnatural. She's probably right, but if becoming something unnatural is an advantage, then I need to take it."

"Understandable," Nobuatsu nodded. "I'll admit, the idea intrigues me as well. Whenever one of these clinics are built, I'll likely look into it myself."

"Hopefully they build them sooner than later," Duri said as he looked back to the ADVENT personnel continuing to fortify in the distance. "This lull will not last forever."

---

ADVENT Military HQ - Switzerland

1/12/2017 – 3:00 P.M.

"Let's get down to business."

Saudia was more than happy to begin, as they had a great deal to discuss. There was a great deal of projects and plans the military had to take into consideration, and every member in the room had an important role in making sure everything successfully came together, as well as had the necessarily clearance to know what ADVENT was planning and the full scope of their operations.

Laura's own inclusion was obvious, and she was, as far as Saudia was concerned, the lead on this meeting. The military was her domain, and Saudia was here to ensure that everything was reasonably proposed and planned. The additional men she'd also brought along were Ravi Kapadia, the Chief of Military Logistics and vital part of keeping the war machine stable, and Robert Groves, Director of the newly implemented Superweapons program of ADVENT.

Saudia had raised her eyebrow when she'd seen the division proposal several weeks ago. Since Laura had brought him along, she assumed it was for a good reason. But it was a reasonable proposal, as she suspected they would need superweapon-level technology to ever hope to beat the Collective, much less kill the Ethereals.

"Where do you want to start?" Saudia asked, resting herself above the holotable. "This is your meeting."

Commander Christiaens cleared her throat and motioned Ravi forward. The Indian man had seemed slightly nervous when they'd been introduced, but he composed himself well enough now. "First, an update on Project Atlantis." The holotable flashed and showed a blue simulation of the ocean floor, along with some construction equipment and half-finished buildings. "Construction is proceeding, and with the construction Gateway Network established, we've ensured that it's unlikely the Collective will realize what we're doing for quite some time."

"But they still could?" Saudia noted.

Ravi coughed. "There is always that risk, Chancellor, but with the precautions we've taken, it will severely hinder them. Aside from the initial staging team, there have been no further physical operations in the areas where Project Atlantis is taking place. The facilities shipping the materials do not know where they are going, or what they are used for."

"The fleets themselves are also unaware," Laura added, pointing as the hologram shifted to a 3D plane to show the surface and the construction far underneath it. "I've scheduled a rotating patrol for multiple fleets, so while there will almost always be some level of surface protection, it will appear completely normal."

"Once construction of the facilities is finished…" Ravi paused. "Phase two will begin; relocation of the engineers and architects to Atlantis. Nemo Protocols will be established to ensure no contact with the surface. All necessary communication with the project will be done in person – no physical or digital documents should be shared with the surface. We have to anticipate the Collective will attempt to improve their penetration capabilities or utilize psionic observers."

"Nemo Protocols include Manchurian Restraints?" Saudia asked, though she suspected the answer.

"Absolutely," Ravi nodded. "Minor ones, but we can't take chances here. The fleet will be quite possibly our best chance of surprising the Collective. Even if they do discover it, if we can prevent them from knowing what Atlantis is for, we still have a chance."

"And these engineers," Saudia asked. "Have they begun outlines for the fleet?"

"Indeed," Laura pressed a button on the holotable and several schematics popped up. "There are isolated teams who've been tasked with designing one ship of the eventual fleet with certain parameters. At the moment they've been led to believe that construction will take place in remote locations, possibly in the Middle East or South America. Perceptions we have reinforced with false references and documents to throw off any Zararch penetration."

"Ideally, we want production to begin immediately after the factories complete," Ravi added. "Hence why the Engineering teams are developing proofs of concept for spacecraft. Nothing resembling a working ship…yet. But considering at best the basic facilities for Atlantis will not be complete for a minimum of three months yet, they have time."

"Time to also begin implementation of what will be our newest iteration of our Naval Forces," Laura said. "I've requested the Seatrooper Project be sped up, using the reasoning of exploiting an area of Earth the Collective does not have a notable advantage in, to further expand and update our naval forces, and to provide a counter to the Andromedon Aquatic Forces and possibly the Sar'Manda in the future. That is the official justification." She looked Saudia in the eyes. "Unofficially, the reason is to protect Atlantis from any Collective attack. If they learn about it, and decide to attack, I want them to run straight into an army under the sea."

Saudia remembered the proposal. "Then I suppose development will focus on the Depthtrooper prototype?"

"Yes and no," Laura said. "The standard Seatrooper will be given the media focus, one which Feng is all too happy to perpetuate. But yes, the bulk of development will be on the Depthtrooper units, as well as the proposed Atlantis Guard and Neptune Explorers. The Atlantis Architect proposal has already been largely implemented since construction has begun, but it will be refined."

"Good," Saudia nodded. "You have my approval to take any measures you feel are necessary to ensure the success and secrecy of this project. Send over whatever documents you need me to sign."

"Excellent," Laura nodded to Ravi. "Continue."

"Of course," Ravi switched the hologram once again to show a map of the world. "The vital components of the Gateway Network are officially up and running. We have Gateways at all major zones of potential conflict, major government facilities, and major military bases. In theory we should be able to reinforce areas like Busan, Seoul, Tokyo, Vegas, and more near-instantly…with infantry, admittedly, but it will be enough to buy more time."

Saudia nodded. "Good news. And the network is secure?"

"As secure as we can make it," Laura pursed her lips. "Aegis has assured us that they are impossible to hack unless one knows the connection numbers. As long as those are protected, and protocols are followed to prevent any unauthorized Gateway from connecting...yes, it should be secure."

"We have two options for immediate expansion," Ravi continued. "We can continue to place Gateways in every major city, and soon all across the country, or we can utilize the Gateways in a more…revolutionary way."

"How?"

"Logistics, of course," Ravia smiled thinly. "The Gateways have provided us a way to immediately stock, resupply, and speed up the utilization of essential components and equipment. What would take days to arrive at our bases could be done instantly as soon as production has finished. No risk of interception, no risk of being lost, the traditional targets of supply lines would be completely removed from the equation. We don't have to rely on transportation to support our facilities any longer."

That was something Saudia had to admit was a significant advantage. Supply lines were usually easy targets, and she could only assume the reason they hadn't been targeted yet was because the Collective might not have actually considered it. "The only issue is the size limitation," she pointed out. "The Gateways are not large enough for significant quantities at a time."

"Yes, it won't remove supply lines immediately," Ravi admitted. "But I can assure you that for most pieces or packages, it can work and will ultimately be faster."

"Then focus on that," Saudia said. "If the essential part of the Network is complete, then focus on improving the logistics. I do want expansion on secondary bases to continue, but at a pace which is feasible."

"Of course, Chancellor."

"Thank you, Mr. Kapadia," Laura nodded. "Before we move on, we should briefly discuss something which does affect all of ADVENT, not just the military. EMP attacks, specifically. Treduant's stunt was useful and exposed a major weakness in the Collective…and ourselves, for that matter. I doubt it will take time for the Collective to realize this."

"The Blackout Protocols," Saudia recalled the initial plans ADVENT had developed after D.C. had been attacked. "I agree. EMP hardening for our vital systems is essential, as well as preparing for any of our forces coming under this attack. Feng has said ETC weapons should help mitigate this too."

"I suspect we'll want to try this tactic again," Laura said. "But it shouldn't hinder us like it did last time."

"Pass it along to Infrastructure and Engineering," Saudia said. "The protocols in place are sufficient for now."

"And I am planning to put into motion another branch for the Army," Laura continued, sliding a tablet towards her. "Or a kind of special forces if you prefer. The trenches are likely going to be copied by the aliens, and with it the same strengths and weaknesses. Namely that they are confining, and properly equipped soldiers could cause massive havoc if they managed to get into the line."

Saudia looked down at the document with some interest. "Stormtroopers."

"No, it wasn't based off of what you're thinking," Laura said, almost rolling her eyes, picking up on her lightly teasing tone. "Or did you not know of the actual German Stormtroopers?"

"Of course I do," Saudia said. "Though only the name."

"They specialized in exactly what I described," Laura said. "In World War I they were responsible for infiltrating and raiding trenches. They caused a significant amount of havoc and death for the Allied Forces, and I want to have some good come out of that idea. Turning this idea against the aliens would be fitting."

"Wouldn't this fit closer to the Order of Terra?" Saudia pointed out.

"The Order will be better for sustained and major assaults," Laura countered. "These would be independent missions, more focused on chaos and sabotage than outright victory. They'll be mobile, few, and heavily armed. Surprise is more important than protection. It would be a dangerous position, but it would have a valuable role."

"I can see them working closely with the Order as well," Saudia noted. "Especially when sweeping and clearing buildings."

"Yes, they would complement each other well," she agreed. "But I want to have this ready to go when the aliens end up stealing our idea."

Saudia smirked. "It's amusing that they would take ideas from such a primitive species. They probably hate it." There were several chuckles at that.

"Speaking of dangerous weapons," Laura finally motioned the final man in the room forward. "Director Groves, of the Superweapons R&D."

"A pleasure, Chancellor." Unlike Ravi, Robert Groves seemed fully comfortable around her, and had an air of confidence around him. "I'm pleased this department was opened in the first place."

"I suspect it will be needed," Saudia nodded.

"Indeed," Robert nodded, scratching his beard. "While I'm not certain that 'superweapon' is the best description of what we are doing, it is sufficient. I would personally define it as the development of large-scale offensive and defensive systems and delivery mechanisms for the purposes of protecting ADVENT and quashing the alien threat."

Saudia raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"

"That we are capable of far more destructive capability than the Collective wishes to believe," Robert said with some smugness. "We have nuclear weapons, of course. But sadly, no major leaps of similar scale have taken place in decades. Already we are capable of producing salted nukes, a devastating weapon which most would be understandably hesitant to use on our planet. However, we are working on the means to make these weapons of destruction more…practical."

He pressed another button, and the image of a missile with some accompanying text appeared. "Project Telum Ignis, which is something of a continuation of Project Casaba-Howitzer, which itself was a refinement of Project Orion, both of which were US Projects that have been in various stages of implementation. Casaba-Howitzer was never technically ended, but in the past couple decades the focus was shifted to other projects."

He raised a finger. "Now, you may be wondering what the project was. To shorten the story, Project Orion was the investigation of using nuclear bombs to propel a spacecraft, and in this process discovered how to focus a nuclear blast into a narrow cone. They immediately realized it could be used as a weapon, and from it Project Casaba-Howitzer was born to explore this idea of a nuclear directed energy weapon. I'm pleased to say that Project Telum Ignis is on track to perfect it."

The hologram continued in a simulation which showed the nose of the missile exploding and firing cone-shaped blast in front of it. "The benefits of nuclear power without as much collateral damage," Robert continued proudly. "This is, admittedly, something that is most useful on large or stationary targets. Military bases, capital ships, but I can assure you that it will vaporize anything in its path. Even better, it's far less powerful than standard nuclear weapons due to requiring much less power to focus it. Any fallout, even if used on the ground, should be negligible in the long run."

"You foresee this as an anti-spacecraft weapon?" Saudia asked.

"I foresee it as an anti-target weapon," he clarified. "Aim this at something, and it will annihilate it. But I understand what you are saying. I see these being exceptionally useful against alien bases, medium-sized spacecraft, and space stations. I say specifically these because they don't move much, if at all. If they detect it ahead of time, smaller craft and priority targets could get out of the way. The focused power of the missile does diminish the radius. At the moment, this weapon is called the Atomic Lance. We are preparing to build prototypes to test, but simulations are extremely promising."

"You want to test it," she said. "On Earth."

"Yes," he said immediately. "Preferably against an alien installation."

Saudia exchanged a glance with Laura. "I'll look into it. Continue your development in the meantime. Good work."

"I have one more project to share," Robert said, raising a hand as he switched the hologram with his free one. "This one is slightly more…ambitious and risky. But it could in theory prevent anything from entering our planet."

Intriguing. "Continue."

A hologram of the globe appeared. "Project: Nanosphere."

Ravi pursed his lips. "You were right when you mentioned it was risky."

"As it sounds," Robert continued. "This involves nanites. Specifically ones designed to be released into the thermosphere and maintain an orbit around Earth. They would be launched via rocket or railgun, and simply float…until they encounter foreign material. They would begin disassembling the foreign objects and replicating to add to the greater Nanosphere."

The hologram showed several red dots which floated around the globe. "This serves us twofold," he explained. "It will first help clean the atmosphere and orbit of the amount of space junk that exists, and destroy any alien craft that comes into our atmosphere, provided there is a nanite swarm in the area. It would need a significant amount of nanites to be effective, but we've calculated an amount that will be enough to begin the process to saturation."

Saudia smiled grimly at that. The idea was certainly appealing. However, there were some obvious questions. "I assume there is a means by which we would be able to pass through? We do not want to be trapped on our planet."

"Of course," Robert quickly assured her. "There are three methods. The primary one will be the development of an IFF which all ADVENT spacecraft, satellites, and other personnel will broadcast which will negate the Nanosphere in a certain radius. Alternatively there will be a kill switch for multiple parts of the Nanosphere, and it is highly susceptible to EMP attacks. And for those concerned about nanites falling to Earth and replicating…if they somehow fell out of orbit, they would be burned up upon reentry."

He motioned to the hologram. "This is not an especially difficult project, but nanotech makes people hesitant. But Nanosphere takes the risks into consideration, and those are far outweighed by the benefits this provides."

"Put this into production immediately," Saudia ordered. "This is the kind of work I want to see. Excellent job."

"Thank you, Chancellor," Robert inclined his head with a smile. "We will not disappoint. You will receive a full implementation plan by the end of the week."

"I look forward to it," she said, looking around. "Unless you have something to add Laura, I believe this covers everything important. Good work everyone, meeting adjourned."

---

ADVENT Intelligence Outpost, Brasília - Brazil

1/6/2017 – 6:11 A.M.

"So you haven't really done anything?" Abby asked blandly at the Intelligence operative opposite her. "Why?"

"Because quite frankly, we've had better things to do," ADVENT Intelligence Officer Silvio Andrade answered in near-frustration. "The terrorist attacks were bad, yes, but they didn't really leave anything behind, and more importantly, there haven't been many attacks since, or at least none of that magnitude."

Abby pursed her lips. "Psionic attacks were reported, correct?"

"Correct."

"And these terrorists probably didn't want to found, correct?"

"Most likely."

"And there were reasonable reasons to focus on other operations instead of hunting them down, correct?"

"We were dealing with an illegitimate invasion, the removal of the de-facto leader of the country, and Operation Sherman was starting. Yes there were better things to focus on."

"Right," Abby said. "So how out of the question is it that these terrorists used their seemingly considerable skill in telepathy to…redirect your attention?"

Silvio opened his mouth to answer, suddenly closed it, and frowned as he thought. "That…is a good point…"

"I'm assuming ADVENT Intelligence thought the same," Abby said, crossing her arms. "Or maybe the Commander figured out something was off about the response. Either way, I'm going to help put this matter to rest. I've requested several Inquisitors to assist in this operation, as well as the Military Branch of the PRIEST Division on call should we need them."

Silvio appraised the younger woman opposite him. "I'll make sure we get what is needed. It sounds like you have a theory about this."

"I do," Abby pulled out a beige file from her bag and slid it across the table. "Reviewing the initial reports, and speaking with Aegis, it's very likely that there is an Ethereal behind this. One by the name of Nebulan."

"Shit," he cursed as he took the file. "Didn't think it would be that bad. Anything beyond guesswork?"

"This particular Ethereal is a master illusionist," Abby said as he read. "More than capable of affecting three separate attacks, and also capable of making sure they aren't investigated. In fact, this wouldn't be the first time she's done it." She quickly raised a hand. "Don't ask. Classified. The point is that this fits her methods, and explains why no one immediately launched an investigation into a psionic attack."

"Well then," he let out a sigh. "I can say right now that my confidence in taking down an Ethereal is not especially high. I can safely say we aren't prepared for it."

"Things are different now," Abby reminded him. "We've got our own psions and the Manchurian Restraints. She won't be able to pull it off this easily again."

"I suppose the question is what she's doing," Silvio mused. "Using disenfranchised Humans or just dominating them? For what?"

"Using them," Abby suggested. "A means to an end. Plausible deniability to an extent. Possibly using Argentinian and Brazilian nationalists and separatists. ADVENT isn't popular in Argentina, especially after Uruguay, and Marshal Luana didn't help the image during her brief control. Recruitment wouldn't be hard for a telepath."

"What are the chances that the Argentinian government is compromised?" He wondered.

"Don't know," Abby pursed her lips, propping her chin on her hand. "But we should establish that she probably is in Argentina before we investigate, if she's even on the continent at all. I want everyone who's been assigned to this case so far, all here, and I also want a Savoraim or Qalandar specializing in memory alteration or telepathy."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "What?"

"Research Branch of the PRIEST Division," she quickly recounted. "Savoraim and Qalandar are research positions. I first want to know if I'm right and Nebulan did tamper with this investigation."

"I'll request them," he promised. "As well as everyone already working on this. Give me and them a couple days to get here and sort everything out. In the meantime you can talk with the people here now."

"Sounds good," Abby stood. "Time to start hunting an Ethereal."

---

ADVENT Infrastructure Modeling and Research, Berlin – Germany

1/13/2017 – 9:58 A.M.

This was, Saudia believed, the first time she had actually visited the Modeling and Research facility of the Department of Infrastructure. It had been one of the first buildings repurposed for this specific purpose, which she recalled was experimenting with means of infrastructure, since after all, they wanted to improve it and not simply stagnate.

Thus the Department of Infrastructure included many scientists, in addition to engineers, among its ranks. While anything relating to infrastructure would be a large investment, Saudia was quite happy to do it if the results were of the quality she expected. She didn't have issues sinking what would be millions of dollars into experiments that wouldn't always work.

She knew they wouldn't be wasted on anything frivolous or clearly unworkable. These people knew not to abuse ADVENT's generosity.

A benefit of having the largest economy in the world, and complete control over a currency the Collective was only too happy to provide them. Ironically, each battle was helping to replenish any funds that were lost. Jasmine had a better handle on the economy than she did, so she trusted that it wasn't going to collapse anytime soon. Appropriate taxation was certainly another contributor to their economic dominance.

"Chancellor Vyandar, welcome!" A thin British man greeted her, accent more pronounced than most British people she'd interacted with. "There is much to show you!"

"Lead the way, Mr. McNeil," she motioned forward as they began walking through the fairly open facility. Frederick McNeil, Head of the Department of Infrastructure, architect, project manager, and visionary. He'd been a heavy proponent of looking to future solutions for aging infrastructure, although until recently even he had trouble securing the necessary funding.

That was fortunately not a problem any longer.

"I see your teams have been hard at work," Saudia noted as they walked, seeing the rooms organized by project type and clearly marked with directions and maps placed throughout the building. Not especially pretty, but highly practical. "I'll let you decide what to show first."

"Yes, of course," the man adjusted his glasses as they made a turn. "There are three main areas of focus: Economical, Military, and Civilian. I will start with the less impressive, which is the Economical portion."

"I'm hurt," Saudia said lightly. "With the amount of money we're giving you, you don't need to try and conserve it just to make us feel better."

McNeil luckily chuckled. "Trust me, Chancellor, we're spending your money. But to clarify: When I say economical, I mean something that can be developed, built, and deployed in a short amount of time without the need for exotic resources, while also reusing what ADVENT has no immediate use for."

They stepped into a square room, which had several squares of bound-together cylinders of various sizes. There were several other personnel in the room, as well as several gauss weapons on the table. "Our first viable Economical project, Liquid Barriers."

"Are those tanks filled with water?" She asked.

"Water certainly works, but in truth you could theoretically put anything into them," McNeil clarified. "However, the idea started based on the fact that projectiles are slowed down significantly underwater. So we put together some cylinders made out of inexpensive metal, filled them with water, and shot them."

"And it worked?" Saudia asked.

"As in it stopped the projectile? Yes." McNeil motioned her to one of the cylinders. "Obviously it doesn't stand up well to a sustained attack, and grenades decimate them. But if you want a fast way to defend or reinforce an area, these will provide an extra layer of protection." He raised a finger. "More importantly, it can be a means to dispose of certain unwanted materials. Black water, which is sewage, works just as well as pure water, and sand is also surprisingly effective. Sand actually works best against laser and plasma weapons."

Sand. Well then, perhaps there was one use for the large amount of sand that was going to become available soon. "What about repairing it? Going out into the crossfire does not seem wise."

"We thought of that," McNeil put his hand on one of the handles she now saw built into the cylinder, and turned it so the outside was now facing them. "Complete 360 degree repair. Can be repaired and refilled from the safety of the barricade."

Saudia nodded. "Good. This can be used to fortify civilian cities and areas without much current defensive capability. Possibly will save lives, and can be incorporated into established defenses. Viable; send it to Commander Christiaens to see where she wants to integrate them."

"Certainly," he nodded, already moving to the next area. A few minutes later they were in an area which was noticeably cooler, and Saudia saw quite a few models of buildings and larger test walls and systems in the experimentation rooms.

"Military Infrastructure R&D," McNeil said proudly. "What I hope to say is the future of ADVENT military infrastructure. I believe you'll be pleased with what we've developed and discovered." They first stepped in front of a block of what Saudia first thought looked like silvery foam. Which is to say, full of holes.

"This was particularly interesting to us," McNeil said. "CMF, or composite metal foam. Don't let the appearance deceive you, this is one of the toughest substances we've developed. The air bubbles, which you see, actually are highly important to this material. They are essential for CMF absorbing impacts and heat, since they don't just ricochet off the metal, but instead can shatter on impact." He motioned. "See if you can lift it."

Saudia frowned, but complied. To her surprise, she was able to lift the metal block up, even if it wasn't exactly light, it wasn't nearly as heavy as she would have expected for something of its size. "CMF is light as well, thanks to the more porous nature of the material," he continued. "Not to mention it ultimately saves resources. We can make two or three times the amount of CMF as traditional metal, since the process consumes roughly a third of the raw materials needed."

"I see," Saudia wondered what the drawback was. "And is there a catch to be aware of?"

"It takes longer to produce, as the metal itself needs to be bounded to a matrix element," he said, which Saudia didn't exactly know what he meant by that. "But I don't believe there is a significant drawback other than the lack of high-volume production facilities."

"So where do you see this being incorporated?" She asked.

He motioned her to a table, where she saw the standard design of an ADVENT Barracks building, only it was made entirely out of the porous metal. "For future construction of ADVENT military facilities, I've incorporated a layer of CMF into the design, further reinforcing them. But the material itself, Chancellor? Far beyond infrastructure. Vehicles, armor, shields, this has significant potential beyond my oversight. I've already informed the other department heads about this."

"Good," Saudia nodded. "If you have appropriate schematics, I can ensure the new facilities are built to the new standard."

"Ah, I'm not done," McNeil smiled, bringing her over to another model. "What you've seen is made solely from materials on Earth. When made with alien alloys…I believe we might possibly have something tougher than their own metals. This," he pointed at the shield of metal. "Is CMF made out of pure alien alloys and hardened with an outer layer of MELD. We have yet to actually find a way to destroy it. While extremely resource-intensive, not even alien alloys have this much durability."

"Well done," she complimented. "No small feat."

"Indeed, and there is a little more to show," he motioned her to yet another model, though this one seemed built out of stone. "This is the results of Project Blackrock," he said, extending a hand to the model. "An investigation into the potential advantages of using stone as structural armor. Diorite, Granite, and so on. The results were surprisingly positive. Extremely hard, high heat resistance, and not exceptionally difficult to find."

He cautiously raised a hand. "Now, with that said, there are a few weaknesses. Heavy kinetic weapons and explosives can damage it, but on the other side it will render energy weapons near-useless."

"How do you see it being used?" She asked.

"Preferably as exterior armor," he reached to the model and picked it up, revealing there was a CMF model underneath it. "Ideally, the most important structures in ADVENT would have a concrete composite based on Project Blackrock, with a CMF layer of protection, with slabs of cut stone serving as exterior armor. An impenetrable fortress; further still if we wish to incorporate nano-repair."

He shrugged. "Otherwise, these can easily be cut into fortifications for reinforcing buildings and positions. The only challenges will be cutting and harvesting the required stone types, but with ADVENT supporting it, this can be an easily overcome challenge."

Probably not as easy as he was suggesting, but Saudia quite liked the work he and his team had managed to do. "I'll speak to Commander Christiaens about implementing all of this. Well done."

"And for one final showing," he said, exiting that room and continuing downward. "I have, of course, sent my proposals for new building standards for all new ADVENT infrastructure to account for EMP attacks. If nothing else, I would hope the specifications on generators and critical systems be implemented."

"That will be done," Saudia promised as they walked into what she assumed was the Civilian infrastructure development area. McNeil led her into yet another room, this one with a large, rusted pipe in the center. On the end was a sleek metal ring, but other than that, it looked like a standard sewage pipe.

"One of the largest problems in infrastructure is it breaking down and corroding," McNeil said. "Be if from rust, algae, or other manner of corruption. Impossible to fully fix, too expensive to replace, and the best that happens is occasionally it's kept from getting worse, or maybe someone shells out the money for replacing it. Worst case no one does anything and it breaks, costing more money and time."

He tapped the end of the pipe. "However, that may not need to be a concern any longer. With the significant amount of advances in nanotechnology, we wondered, 'why not apply this to infrastructure?'. So we worked on a nanotech system that ensures our piping and buildings remains pristine."

He picked up a small remote, as the ring on the edge of the pipe flashed yellow. "Stand back, Chancellor," he warned. "The nanites will consume anything other than the metal on the pipe. I don't want you losing a hand. Watch."

Saudia stayed well back as the ring flashed red, and she saw a congealed black-orange ring form, and began slowly, but noticeably, moving along the pipe. In the process, she saw, it consumed everything in its path. When it passed over a part of the pipe, all that was left was clean steel.

"The nanites operate on a whitelist program," McNeil explained. "The metal of the pipe is what they are specifically directed not to consume. Anything else is fair game. They are precisely programmed, and will only go a specified distance down to the nanometer, and then immediately return."

"Can they replicate?"

"No," he shook his head. "They only break down what they encounter. They also are programmed to self-destruct after a half hour if they don't return to the housing ring. There are kill switches for each ring as well, and their instructions can't be modified remotely. We've taken precautions, Chancellor. The greatest risk this will pose is an idiot sticking their hand on it during the cleaning procedure."

"And ADVENT does not support the idiots," Saudia muttered. "Not a concern. Again, your team has outdone themselves here. I want these in major cities. Once those test cases have proven successful, we can justify an expansion to the rest of ADVENT. I'll see this gets done myself."

"I'm pleased you approve, Chancellor," he said, inclining his head. "We both want the continued improvement of our species. It's refreshing to work for someone with the same goal."

"Trust me," Saudia said. "It's far past time that became the priority of everyone, not just the few."

"Under ADVENT," McNeil noted. "You might just reach that goal."

---

ADVENT D.C. Research Center, Washington D.C. – United States of America

1/13/2017 – 4:11 P.M.

Saudia looked up from the outlining document for Project: Green Lantern. "Normally I wouldn't be opposed to a project of this scale, but this seems different."

Tygan cleared his throat. "With all due respect, Chancellor, I can assure we have taken all…necessary…precautions to ensure the safety of the personnel involved."

"And if this succeeds," Dr. Munju added. "We have a weapon that will kill not just the Battlemaster, but any other alien that we face."

"There is already a significant amount of interest in Gamma rays in the scientific community," Tygan said. "Tapping into such interest seemed a prudent move, and the results of this project will undoubtedly serve ADVENT beyond the development of a powerful weapon." He did pause for a moment. "Each researcher knows what they are involved in. This is a Manhattan Project for the war, Chancellor, one which could legitimately affect the outcome."

Saudia sighed. "There are a significant amount of projects on the scale of the Manhattan Project. I'll ascribe that comparison when it actually happens. Keep Green Lantern running and I want every precaution taken. I don't want them blowing themselves up accidentally."

"I suspect these people know what they are doing," Munju suggested dryly. "We don't recruit the incompetent, Chancellor. You know that."

"That is true," she said, clasping her hands behind her back. "Speaking of which, I would know what else you have to update me on."

"Thanks to XCOM, we have the means of producing plasma weapons," Tygan said, consulting his tablet. "Dr. Mercado will have more on that for you. The science team, now that we have a more complete understanding of the nature of plasma, has begun more…extensive research. The respective team has been working closely with Dr. Mercado, especially in regards to the propulsion utilizations of plasma. I suspect you may know more about how that relates to the larger picture."

For the fleet. Made sense, and she'd have to inquire as to how that was going when she spoke to Feng. "And you mentioned there was a breakthrough in regards to our energy output?"

"Indeed," Tygan straightened his glasses. "Through the success of Project: Thursday, we believe that we have been able to turn Thorium into a nuclear fuel, almost bypassing the need for Uranium."

Saudia raised an eyebrow. "And this means?"

"In practical terms," Tygan said. "We can begin major development of Thorium reactors across ADVENT and, if not meet the energy requirements for the world, come significantly close. Thorium is far more plentiful than Uranium, Chancellor, and we control the largest deposits in the world. We can sever our dependence on previous generation energy production and move towards fully renewable." He coughed. "In addition, with the Uranium need being significantly reduced for reactors, more will be freed up for…military applications."

"I will also add that it would eliminate a military vulnerability," Munju added. "Once the Collective realizes that targeting oil hurts us, they will exploit it. While not invincible, transitioning to Thorium reactors will eliminate this particular weakness. The more we reduce our dependence on non-renewable energy, the better."

"Agreed," Saudia gave both men a nod. "Send this to the Department of Infrastructure. I'm sure McNeil will be overjoyed. Good work."

"Thank you, Chancellor," Tygan bowed his head. "If you would follow me, I believe there is something we can update you on." She complied, and they walked through the narrow hallways of the lab, the pristine sanitary smell sticking out to her. The trio walked through another sliding door into a fairly small lab, but these had stacks of nutrient tubes along the leftmost wall.

Saudia stepped towards them, immediately seeing what was inside. "Are these…"

"Yes," Tygan said, sounding slightly unhappy. He still hadn't been on board with the project, but he'd nonetheless complied. "The first products of Project Seafoam. The first Human clones."

They were little more than vaguely baby-shaped fetuses, but it was unmistakably a Human fetus. A sense of finality of the situation settled around here. They were growing clones. It was set into motion. Necessary, but hopefully it would not have the consequences of a Pandora's Box. It was one thing to write and justify the need for clones.

But seeing the fetuses before her lent a sense of reality to what she'd ordered. "How far along are they?"

"In normal pregnancy terms, close to four weeks," Tygan said. "However the growth has been…significantly accelerated. This is one batch being grown, at six times the development of a normal Human. Within six weeks it will almost be ready to be born from a normal mother. Within six months it will be close to adult size."

"We are currently experimenting with how fast this can be accomplished without negative side effects," Munju added, stepping forward as he looked over the rows of growth tubes. "At minimum we are aiming for one year from the start of the cloning process to soldier. Preferably less, but we can't accept too much more. So we have multiple batches going at once."

"And the learning programs?" Saudia asked.

"Will begin to be implemented at various stages of brain development," Tygan said slowly. "I must stress that this project is proceeding far too fast for my liking. We will not truly know how successful we are or not until the first clones awaken. The learning modules should work in theory, but we again are experimenting with the best means of implementing them, either through chips connected to the brain, subconscious hypnosis, telepathy, Manchurian programming, you get the idea."

"However," Munju interrupted. "As far as growth speed, we should be able to determine that within several months. By then each batch will have been moved to an adult pod and we can determine if the speed had negative impacts."

Tygan frowned. "We can estimate. We will not know until they awaken."

"The important thing is that this has started," Saudia said. "You've done good work, despite any reservations you have."

"I will take some comfort in that," Tygan said. "I trust they will not be abused, even if entire batches will inevitably be euthanized."

"Unfortunate," Munju grunted. "But that was always going to happen in this project." He turned around, motioning her to a table behind the stacks of growth pods. "I do have some less heavy news to consider, Chancellor."

She looked down at the table and saw another small model. One of a sleek design, open rooms with glass roofs, and within top of the line medical facilities, surgical pods, and the latest of all ADVENT designs. "I believe we have reached a point where we can formally begin opening civilian gene clinics," Munju said. "And officially unveil the ADVENT Eugenics Division."

Tygan grimaced. "I would caution using that word."

"The public has become afraid of a word which has become tainted," Munju sniffed. "Eugenics is certainly at its core not an evil word. It is the simple betterment of our species through genetic modification. You may not wish to call the cure of autism, hereditary diseases, and genetic mutations eugenics, doctor, but that is what it is."

"Dr. Munju has a point," Saudia nodded. "ADVENT is not the Third Reich or Imperial Japan. Our usage of eugenics will only be to remove the negative aspects of the Human genome while preserving the rest."

"I don't dispute your intentions," Tygan clarified, still frowning. "But I do not see the reason to use that word where other, less offensive, terms would suffice."

"Because it is the most accurate," Munju snorted. "I suspect any public outcry will die down when people learn their children do not have to worry about diseases which have ravaged their families, or become afflicted by rolling badly on the genetic lottery. Mothers no longer need to worry about bringing children with mental disabilities into the world, or having that knowledge determine if they will keep or abort it. The perception on eugenics, Doctor, has been altered once before. It can be altered again."

"As it stands now, the name will stay," Saudia interrupted, not wanting to continue this debate. "So, the civilian Gene Clinics will be managed by the Eugenics Division. What of the military Clinics?"

"I was going to talk to Laura about that," Munju said. "I suspect she will advocate for control over it herself, but she might let it be managed by Intelligence or Oversight to avoid the headache of it. At your approval, I can send it to Infrastructure to begin construction."

"Consider it done," Saudia nodded. "I'll begin establishing the Eugenics Division in the meantime."

"I sincerely hope you find an acceptable candidate," Tygan said, grimacing. "This appointment should be handled with care."

Saudia smiled, and patted him on the shoulder. "You're at the top of the list. Think about it, doctor. You've earned a promotion."

He blinked. "But my work here-"

"Will continue," Saudia stated lightly. "Surely you don't think that the Eugenics Division wouldn't be heavily involved in cloning?"

He pursed his lips. "You make a good point, Chancellor. I will…consider…your kind offer. Although I would assume Dr. Munju is similarly deserving of a promotion."

"You're the geneticist, not me," Munju gave a thin smile. "While the idea of conquering the Human genome is enticing, my skill set is more on exploring and researching the mysteries of the alien technology. As much as you hate to admit it, Project Seafoam is largely of your own hands. I've simply helped where needed."

"Well, as I said, I will consider it," Tygan repeated. "In the meantime, Chancellor, there is one final project I believe you will want to be appraised of."

A few minutes later they were walking through a Gateway which connected to one of the ADVENT Mental Clinics. Specifically the one that housed many of the victims of Isomnum's attack. Even now people were still trapped in mental prisons or completely broken psychologically. The terrible risks of fighting a psion made manifest.

The Mental Hospital was fairly bright with the white lights and walls, even if it was extremely cold, even compared to most hospitals. There were patients in rooms either unconscious, strapped as they suffered nightmares, or talking with psychiatrists. "I believe it was mentioned to you that there was a certain patient who recovered on his own," Tygan said. "And there was a team wanting to study the phenomenon."

"I remember," Saudia nodded, furrowing her eyebrows as she glanced back. "Has something happened already?"

"Happened? I don't believe so," Munju interjected. "However, they did develop a specific plan and project outcome. Ah, there is the Project Director herself."

They stopped in front of a short Asian woman with short black hair pulled back in a ponytail. Upon them coming, she dismissed whoever the doctor was who was speaking to her, and turned to face them fully. She was astonishingly young, if Saudia didn't know better, she would guess this woman was at most in her early thirties, possibly just graduated with her psychology degree.

"Chancellor," Munju introduced. "Dr. Emily Shodon, Director of Project Phobos."

"A pleasure to meet you," the young woman said with a smile. "I'm surprised you decided to personally come, but I'm pleased to see someone taking notice, even if it just started."

Saudia motioned behind her. "I listen to my people, and they considered this important enough to share with me. However, I haven't been appraised of what Project Phobos is."

"Well," Emily rubbed the back of her head. "There is quite a difference between what Project Phobos is now and what I want it to be. The project originally happened when one of the victims of Isomnum's attack just…woke up."

"Yes, I'm aware of that," Saudia recalled. "By himself."

"That's only part of it," Emily clarified. "We'd given up on him. We tried psionic therapy three different times and none of them could stay for more than a few minutes. Each of them recommended we just put him out of his misery. How he woke up is close to a miracle, but that's not what's interesting."

"What is then?" She asked as they rounded a corner.

"He has some kind of neurological reaction to psionics," she said. "But what's truly remarkable is that certain types of telepathy just don't affect him anymore."

Saudia blinked. "Explain?"

"He offered to help with the experiments," Emily said. "Let them try and influence him. Repeat what Isomnum did to him. He said it couldn't affect him any longer. Turns out he was right, I had to call in a Leviathan-class to get into his mind since it was so bad no one else wanted to try. He tried everything against him, illusions, mental pain, fear, none of it really worked. It admittedly almost sent him into cardiac arrest, but the man reported that even though he could have taken control of his mind, it would have required effort and was…not pleasant."

"I don't suppose he explained how he was able to do that? Saudia asked.

"He tried," Emily shrugged. "I personally don't think he came out of it completely whole. His descriptions were…delirious and disjointed. He thought he had been condemned to Hell, and pretty much suffered until he learned to ignore the pain, overcome the fear, and fight back. He said he was fighting for years, until he killed three very specific aliens: The Warlock, the Battlemaster, and Isomnum. When he killed Isomnum, he said that was when he woke up."

"Interesting," Saudia mused. "Literal mental demons."

"Needless to say he was not exactly pleased to wake up and learn that Isomnum was alive," Emily gave a small smile. "I suspect his background shaped what he went through. He grew up in a fairly fundamentalist Christian family. Dante's Inferno kind of Christian family. Big on instilling the fear of Hell into others. I don't have his full records, but even if he eventually left it, it seems to have definitely made an impact on him."

Saudia pursed her lips. "So this Kane is Subject Zero in your project. So with that out of the way, what are you trying to achieve?"

"To create more of him," Emily explained as they stepped into a small, quiet room. "The goal of Project Phobos is to turn Humans into soldiers who can't be affected by telepaths like Isomnum. Ones immune to telepathically imposed fear and pain. Soldiers to kill Isomnum."

Saudia gave a brief nod as she saw many of the people around the room. Some were clearly being affected by psions in lab coats; others were sleeping or talking with each other. "And how do you accomplish this?"

"We take it in phases," Emily said. "Right now we're in the stage of gathering what we need. Brain scans, interviews, neural analysis, patient observation. This needs to be done for each potential candidates. This is a volunteer-only program, and possibly one of the most intense within the entirety of ADVENT."

"How?"

"We push them to their limits, psychologically," Emily explained. "Candidates are exposed to our psions. Every fear, insecurity, and flaw is dredged up and magnified. They have to learn to overcome them. We're doing to them what Isomnum did, although over a longer period. Whatever Kane thought he did, the process of defeating his fears was key to him waking up. If he can do it, others can as well."

"And what happens if they lose their minds?" Saudia asked.

Emily sighed. "That is a risk. One which is acknowledged at the start. I want to stress that this is volunteer only, invitation only, and that they can walk away at any time. They won't be taken back, but it's understandable that someone wouldn't want to participate in this. We're being careful about who we invite. Obviously not everyone is suitable."

"And who are you inviting?" Saudia asked.

"Soldiers who've experienced and overcome severe mental difficulties, either with help or by themselves," she explained. "This goes beyond victims of Isomnum. Soldiers suffering from PTSD, cancer survivors, people who've lost loved ones and remained intact, those kind of people. The ones who could theoretically not only survive worse, but grow stronger because of it. The goal of our mental clinics are, of course, to help cure any mental issues these individuals have…but afterwards, those willing can join Project Phobos."

Saudia nodded. "An ambitious project. One I will be interested to see if it actually works."

"I've got a good team working with me," Emily said. "Psychologists, veterans, members of the PRIEST Division. I'm no psion, but the science is fascinating and helps me understand it better. We'll get results for you, Chancellor, I can promise you that."

"I'll hold you to that," Saudia nodded. "And what stage of the project are you in now?"

"Gathering recruits," Emily said, motioning around. "Some of them are starting preliminary testing. More to get a baseline of what our parameters should be for the next rounds. After a few we'll begin in earnest." Her face grew more serious. "There are going to be a lot of people who won't make the cut, Chancellor, I'll warn you now. We're talking under a ten percent pass rate. You're not going to get an army out of this."

"I don't need an army," Saudia gave a grim smile. "But a small team to kill a certain Ethereal will be acceptable."

"As long as I'm part of that reckoning."

All of them stopped at the sound of a deep voice from the side. Saudia had known that the man before them was massive, but he was somehow taller than her, if only by an inch. Short black hair rested on the head of a man with eyes that seemed very close to black, and within them was a steel Saudia had only seen in truly hardened people, and sociopaths. It was the ruthless gaze that gave even hardened criminals pause.

The sheer size of the man punctuated the fact that this was someone dangerous. Saudia found it easier to imagine how even in the imaginary hell this man had been trapped in, he would eventually win. He was dressed in a simple t-shirt, pants and boots. His posture was straight, however, and he kept a respectful distance from the group, even if he wasn't intimidated.

Saudia suspected that after being trapped in a prison from Isomnum, nothing would really scare him ever again.

"Kane," Emily stepped forward. "I see you're up. This is-"

"Chancellor Vyandar," he said, still standing still. "I'm aware. I keep up with the outside world," his lip curled up. "Including what the alien filth did to Seoul. Isomnum's hand was in it, of that I am sure."

"Perhaps," Saudia said non-committally. "I would not be surprised. But he will be fought, and he will be punished."

Kane smiled for the first time. "Yes he will. I killed him once before. I can do it again."

Saudia raised an eyebrow. "Reality is not in your head."

"The mind is where he is strong," Kane responded, his smile remaining. "If he cannot defeat me in his own domain, how could he win in mine?"

Saudia was unsure how to respond to that. The man definitely seemed unstable, as Emily had suggested. She didn't really want to provoke him, as his size and demeanor was slightly intimidating, even for her. But Kane looked to Emily. "What is left for me here? Do you need me for more tests?"

"Only a few," she promised. "Then, if you wish, you can rejoin the military, provided you are cleared."

"No," he shook his head. "My place is not there. You know what I want."

Saudia looked to Emily. "What does he want?"

"To join XCOM," she answered. "But like I said, it doesn't work like that. Invitation only-"

Saudia lifted a hand, cutting her off. "Why XCOM, Kane?"

He looked to her with unblinking eyes. "XCOM fights Ethereals, and that is where I belong. There are more Ethereals to die at my hand than just the so-called Dread Lord."

Saudia suspected he would likely get himself killed, but he certainly had spirit, and if he wasn't useful to the Project, she was fine with XCOM having to deal with him. "I'll send your name directly to the Commander. But he will decide to accept you or not."

He nodded his head and saluted. "Thank you, Chancellor." With that he walked away, leaving the four of them relatively alone again.

"He's certainly an interesting character," Saudia noted. "I wonder if the Commander will take him."

"I hope he does," Emily grimaced as they continued forward. "I definitely wouldn't want to be the one to give him bad news."

---

ADVENT Intelligence Outpost, Brasília - Brazil

1/12/2017 – 10:28 A.M.

Jaylin felt rather out of her league as the team put together by the XCOM Intelligence agent finally assembled. She and Agent Gertrude had only spoken once, although it was for a fairly significant period of time, largely on the attack, which she had no trouble remembering. It ended with her being assigned to a new intel op dealing with these terrorists.

It wouldn't be a bad change, since she'd felt rather useless recently since the attacks had largely stopped and the populations weren't protesting anymore. Leon was in the same boat as her, although she was glad that she wouldn't be going into this alone. Someone equally out of her league would be along with her.

She was better at keeping herself composed though.

Jaylin wasn't quite sure what to make of this particular XCOM agent. She looked barely old enough to be a regular field agent, let alone one in charge of an operation like this. Jaylin was fairly sure she was the youngest one, aside from Leon, who was only twenty-three. But there was a clear air around the woman, a quiet authority that the agent didn't feel the need to exercise yet.

The nondescript Caucasian woman was also almost certainly more dangerous than she looked. Jaylin had seen enough gene-modded soldiers to immediately spot the golden rim of MELD around the irises, and if her eyes were modded, then her body was also significantly altered as well. She didn't really know what else XCOM would have also added to increase her lethality.

Were they skilled enough to create cybernetic implants?

For that matter, was ADVENT Intelligence?

She honestly didn't know much about ADVENT's own intelligence counterpart, though obviously by design. All people really knew about ADVENT Intelligence was that you should do everything you can to not attract their attention. Their agents were always watching. Probably mostly propaganda, but Jaylin could easily believe that there were certain people and places under constant watch.

This Agent Andrade seemed like a straightforward man, even as he was talking with Agent Gertrude quietly at the end of the conference room. He didn't strike Jaylin as the straight-laced intelligence type, always very serious. Which…she wondered if that was intentional. A good agent was one no one else knew about, after all.

"Think they're going to get started?" Leon muttered beside her, fidgeting in his own military fatigues, which she wore as well. Not the kind of meeting to wear armor.

"Probably," Jaylin answered as she saw Agent Gertrude shoot them a look, before looking around at the others assembled. "Be quiet."

The woman finally took a stand at the end of the table, with Agent Andrade beside her. The rest of the assembled turned their attention to her as she pulled out a small remote and set it on the table. "Good morning to all of you, I've met with most of you at least once, and I'm sure you've spoken to Agent Andrade. As far as I'm concerned, there isn't a major need for formality. You can call me either 'Abby' or 'Agent'. Same with Silvio, or call him 'Officer' so there isn't confusion. I am in charge of the overall operation, if you have questions relating to mission objectives, goals, and tactics you come to me. If you have questions about your specific task that will be assigned, you speak to Silvio."

She motioned to the left, where Jaylin and Leon were seated. "These two are soldiers who've encountered the terrorists that attacked the bases, and eyewitnesses to what happened. Specifically, they know better than everyone here what we're going to be up against. Jaylin Tanika and Leon Mina, Peacekeeper Riot Control. They've been temporarily assigned to this operation."

Both of them either raised a hand or nodded in acknowledgement of the introduction. No one asked if it was right two fairly low-ranked soldiers were in this kind of sensitive operation, which Jaylin did appreciate. "Serena Campos," Abby nodded to a well-dressed Hispanic woman, wearing professional business attire. "ADVENT Diplomatic Corps. She'll be needed for reasons that will be explained shortly."

Jaylin already suspected where this was going. Abby was definitely planning to investigate Argentina, and getting a diplomat for this operation was a smart way to go about doing it. "August Wepper," Abby continued, indicating the Caucasian man sitting beside Leon. "ADVENT Qalandar. For those who don't know, a researcher of psionics. Specifically specializing in telepathic tampering of subjects."

Jaylin was less sure about what he was here for. To figure out if they've been infiltrated? To test out psionic theories? She'd admittedly never heard of anything called a Qalandar, but she would look that up later. "Kil Ae-Ri," Abby said, as a Korean woman in the fatigues of the PRIEST Division nodded. "Protopriest. Telepath focus. She's not the only one on call from the Military branch, but she will help us defend against any psionic attacks."

So for the combat operations that were inevitable. Good planning. The final man in the room was dressed in simple black clothing, the only indication of…anything, was the small embroidered silvery spider on the upper right chest. Hispanic as well, so possibly a local. He was likely an Intelligence agent as well, now that she thought about it.

"Marco Tasis," Abby finished. "Inquisitor of ADVENT Intelligence. Their psions."

Oh. Well, it made sense they would have their own psions, but she was surprised she'd never once heard about this. "This is a good time to remind everyone that this entire operation is classified," Silvio added. "Anything you learn or hear of as the result of it will not be relayed to any unauthorized party. I trust this is clear?"

They all nodded. Both lead agents exchanged a nod. "Based on what we've learned," Abby said. "We are confident in saying that the perpetrator of these attacks was an Ethereal by the name of Nebulan." The holographic display in the center of the table flashed to light, showing an Ethereal outline with a question mark in the darkened body. "A master illusionist, who likes using aliases and covering her tracks as much as possible. The Ethereal Aegis has provided us with an extensive breakdown of her personality and methods, however, which is now being shared with you."

"If it's an Ethereal," Protopriest Kil asked slowly. "Why has she been quiet aside from the first attack?"

"Unknown," Abby shook her head. "Perhaps she struck too early and wanted to spend time developing her defenses or location. Possibly hoping we'd forget about the attack. I suspect the reason ADVENT hasn't pursued this until now is because Nebulan affected the leaders involved, making this incident a lesser priority."

Jaylin blinked. "She can do that?"

Abby pursed her lips grimly. "I'm afraid so. Which is why Dr. Wepper is here. If Nebulan has been affecting ADVENT personnel, he will help uncover it. That is only one part of the investigation though."

"What about the Humans that attacked?" Leon asked. "Are they controlled by her?"

"There are several possibilities," Abby answered. "In theory, she could. But based on her personality, it is equally likely that she is working with, and using them for some unknown goal. Alternatively, these are Humans who have been recruited into the Phantom Division, Nebulan's own personal army."

"What do we know about them?" Kil asked.

"That they're among the most advanced soldiers in the Ethereal Collective," Abby said. "Extensive genetic modification, all highly intelligent, specialize in recon, sabotage, and assassination, using equipment more advanced than alien standard. If they're involved, and they almost certainly are, then we'll eventually need to bring Lancer and PRIEST support. The Phantom Division are elites of the Collective. We won't take chances with them."

"And the Ethereal is still the most dangerous," Marco said with some amusement. "Such an interesting species."

"By far," Silvio agreed. "The danger of the Phantom Division is slightly blunted by our own psionic capabilities, if not offset more by their technological advantage. However, Ethereals are known to eclipse our own psions if handled improperly."

"So what is the plan?" Jaylin finally asked.

"Twofold," Abby said. "Determine if ADVENT personnel were affected, and locate the main base of operations for Nebulan. We suspect that she may be in Argentina, so in a friendly gesture to our neighbors, we will be paying a diplomatic visit to warn them about these terrorists, and determine if they know anything more."

"I will warn you that they likely won't allow anyone besides me inside," Serena pointed out. "There are nations which are paranoid about psions affecting their minds. Argentina is definitely one of them. While I am good at reading people, if they are actually involved in anything, they will be good at hiding it."

"Have no fear, Diplomat," Marco said smoothly. "We're good at getting what we want, and especially enjoy exploiting those who have no idea how psionics work."

The distrust Jaylin knew some had for psionics seemed rather prudent now. In this case it was justified, but she could see why ADVENT might not want to make it public knowledge that their spies had psions who had no qualms about reading the minds of targets who may or may not be innocent.

"Right now I want everyone to review the compiled information on what we're likely facing," Abby said, shutting down the hologram. "More detailed directions for each of you will be sent by the end of the day. Dismissed."

---

ADVENT Intelligence Outpost – Colorado

1/16/2017 – 12:02 P.M.

Saudia furrowed her eyebrows. "You mean you did send Inquisitors?"

"Just a few, who promptly vanished, and then I stopped," Elizabeth didn't sound perturbed, but Saudia knew she was concerned. She wouldn't have pulled back observation of the SAS unless she felt otherwise. "I don't know if they're dead, and the SAS hasn't released anything indicating there was an attempted infiltration…which I'm positive they would do. Proof of ADVENT 'trying to assassinate the hero Betos'."

Saudia agreed. If the SAS was behind the surprisingly effective counter ops, Betos would have definitely exploited it. But they'd been quiet. "So do you have an explanation?"

"Only one feasible one," she admitted, leaning against the wall. "There is only one party that stands to gain from this idiotic situation."

"The Collective."

"Exactly," she punctuated. "And there is now an entire regional faction against us. A potential opportunity. They'd obviously want to keep their presence as quiet as possible, so covertly ensuring the SAS isn't compromised keeps us in the dark, and they can use that as proof saying "See, we can help you.""

Saudia considered that. The possibility had crossed her mind before, although there was always some reservation. "Betos is an idealist. The aliens are no better than ADVENT, and in fact, much worse, as the recent Seoul attack proves."

Elizabeth made a disgusted face and similarly disgusted noise. "You've read her dossier, right? It would be stupidly easy to convince that idiot woman that anything bad about the aliens is propaganda perpetuated by us, and the aliens are the good guys in all of this. The aliens couldn't ask for a better puppet."

"Good point," Saudia muttered, rubbing her forehead as she sat down. "So. What is your plan?"

"I guess I'll start there," Elizabeth sat down beside her and moved the tablet over. "Now, I don't want you calling this a crazy idea. I'm not going to use agents again, not until we know what's going on. With that said, I am going to field test one of the projects I've been running." She shrugged. "I'd intended to use them on the West Coast, but infiltrating the SAS is just as a valid target."

"Infiltrating them with what?"

"The African Pied Crow," Elizabeth tapped the screen, which indeed showed one of the birds on a blueprint with several additional components. "Corvids, if you want to be accurate. Birds like ravens or crows."

"Really," Saudia was not immediately convinced. "Ravens. I didn't know they could give reports on what they see."

"Ha, ha," Elizabeth said sarcastically. "You sound just like the Officer I shared this with initially. 'Elizabeth, you can't use Ravens as spies, that doesn't make sense'." Saudia snorted at her impersonation. "He shut up once he saw I'd had one of the early specimens of Project Kutkh follow him for the entire day. Got some good footage from it."

"Footage?" Saudia looked back down at the document.

"Obviously," Elizabeth said. "Fabrication made little cameras which fit over their heads. Almost invisible unless you're looking for them. Lightweight, HD, the works. Anything the corvid sees, we will see. Eventually I want to have the eyes themselves replaced by cameras, and have everything stored on an implanted hard drive, but we haven't gotten there yet."

"I see," this made more sense. "That…is reasonable."

"That's only part of it," Elizabeth continued, flipping through the various pages. "Cameras are useless unless they're pointed at something we're interested in. The good news is that corvids are very smart. Not that most people know, but for birds they're great. Their memories and facial recognition skills are what we use here. We've got them to the point where we show them a picture of an individual, and if we release them into a place they know the target inhabits, they'll track them down."

"And how much video can these cameras hold?" Saudia asked.

"Four hours, we'll get it larger later," Elizabeth said. "Obviously, not a lot of time for what will be likely hours of hunting and observation. Which is why the cameras are sound-locked. The corvid makes the sound, the camera turns on. They lose sight of the person, they do it again to turn it off. If they locate the target, after listening and then losing the target, they return to the nearest outpost where we take the data."

"I suspect the aliens will not expect spies in the forms of birds," Saudia said. "Clever."

"I agree," Elizabeth said. "The good news is that corvids are everywhere on Earth. So they won't seem out of place, and our only problem is if they're attacked by wildlife or otherwise killed, and their bodies found later."

"Well, I want to know how well this goes," Saudia said. "If it works out, we have potentially perfect infiltrators. I don't suppose you've considered psionics?"

"Telepathy? Yes," Elizabeth waved a hand. "Although from what my telepaths have said, it isn't really clear or easy to navigate their brains, and unless it's necessary, I want my psions actually doing something essential. We can explore telepathic memory extraction later. For now, the technology appears to serve fine."

"Good," Saudia pushed the tablet back to Elizabeth. "Aside from that, there is the larger issue of the aliens themselves. Their cyber capabilities are better than ours, especially if they begin using the Andromedons."

"If they haven't penetrated us already," Elizabeth pointed out. "I doubt it, and we have purging protocols in the event of a breach, but definitely not something I want to rely on. Which is why we're still having our cyber divisions focus on some breakthrough in quantum computing. In theory, if we develop quantum computers, we will be able to resist any kind of cyber attack from the Collective."

"Does the Collective also use it?" Saudia asked. "I'd think they would have developed it before us."

"Not exactly," Elizabeth said. "At least, I don't think so. Their internal networks are managed by the CODEX system. Which, while it does seem to have a quantum foundation, is more akin to a machine intelligence. The Andromedons certainly do though, or at least several of the major unions. I suppose we should be thankful they don't usually share their secrets with the Collective."

"Alternatively," Elizabeth rested her chin on a fist. "Project Ra completes."

The ADVENT AI project. Saudia nodded. "And the status of it?"

"Beginning stages at best," Elizabeth shook her head. "There won't be major progress for some time. I'm letting select Chinese AI scientists work on modules, though those won't be used in the final AI. We have a firm base thanks to the Chinese, but no one has ever gone this far before. But if we do develop an AI, it should be more than capable of resisting Collective cyberattacks."

Saudia thought for a minute. "Have you contacted XCOM?"

"They've insinuated they're working towards something similar, but weren't any closer," she answered. "Ethereals don't like AIs. They consider them dangerous, which means we'll definitely have an advantage if we complete it. But Aegis was sadly unhelpful."

"And I assume you're taking the precautions so we don't end up having to deal with a rampant AI?" Saudia asked rhetorically.

"Damn it," Elizabeth answered sarcastically. "I knew I forgot something." Both women broke into a smile at that. "Yes, Chancellor," she said, more serious this time. "We're taking every precaution possible. Just like with nanotech, we're not going to make something we can't control in some way."

"Let's hope so," Saudia raised an eyebrow. "I'd really hate to deal with an AI after the Collective is gone."

"Everyone would, Chancellor. Don't worry, that isn't going to happen."

---

AEGIS Diplomatic Command – Switzerland

1/17/2017 – 10:35 A.M.

While it had not exactly been the easiest of beginnings, Saudia was pleased that the AEGIS Division was still on track to properly be unveiled fairly soon. The hardest part had not been finding the personnel and facilities (Which would be relatively few at the beginning), but ensuring that their new extraterrestrial residents were as sincere as they said they were.

For the most part, the defectors appeared to have been telling the truth. The reasons varied, but what was important was that they were motivated to stand against the Collective. Saudia and Elizabeth had suspected that the defectors who had done so because of more…selfish reasons, such as fear or because other were doing it, had their own decisions validated and reinforced by more logical reasons.

It had essentially been taking the defectors who'd had legitimate reasons to finally abandon the Collective, put them in the same room, and by the end, the entire room would be fairly angry or at minimum irritated against the Collective.

The best part was that there was no need to lie. Simply exposing the Aui'Vitakar for the puppet state it was often convinced most, and sharing the abuses of the Collective, such as their Blacksites, the truth of the Muton situation, the experiments of the Sectoids…all damning evidence. As much as the Seoul Massacre had turned public opinion against aliens briefly, it had been yet another mark against the Collective which had horrified the aliens.

For the particularly unsure groups, she'd simply asked XCOM to send Aegis to speak with them. Being graced by the presence of an actual Ethereal would likely be remembered as one of the most important days of their lives. If you couldn't trust an Ethereal who said what he had helped established was too far gone, then who could you trust?

There had been, of course, several aliens who had used the defections as an attempt to infiltrate.

It had gone badly for them.

The Inquisitors were thorough, and within days had weeded out the illegitimate defectors from the real ones. Most of them didn't have much actionable intelligence, but there was always a need for live aliens in the Experimentation Labs. They would serve some purpose, at least. Saudia was aware that there were at least a few illegitimates that ADVENT Intelligence were using to monitor and control their access to the Collective, however that was established. With psionics, it wasn't especially difficult to turn them into unwitting double agents.

Today, though, would be the first true step for the AEGIS Division. It was more than just responsible for ensuring aliens integrated into ADVENT, but would also manage diplomatic ties with all alien factions. Saudia was aware that Chief Ambassador Kamar Dennis had some ideas for addressing the Collective directly, and they might very well be discussed today.

The room they were meeting in was small, but well-furnished. A circular table with a holoprojector in the center, red carpet, adjustable ambient lighting to relax all occupants, and some visual additions, such as the ADVENT banner hanging in the center. The chairs were equally spaced apart, angled so Saudia would be in front of the banner. A bit of a dramatic touch, but she didn't especially mind.

To her rightmost position was Kamar Dennis, veteran diplomat and her top pick for the position. He had been interested in the aliens long before this, and his previous experience as a diplomat to less-traveled locations in the world, who often didn't speak the same languages or have similar cultures made him an ideal fit for a position dealing with alien life.

As such he was noticeably older than her, with a neatly trimmed beard and moustache, his skin almost identical in color to her own, and in the fairly plain attire planned for the AEGIS Division. A nameplate, with the position beneath it on the upper right chest. The symbols of ADVENT and AEGIS were on opposing shoulders. Like most ADVENT attire, the uniform was black with muted red highlights.

And to her leftmost position was Runi'sirasis'vitianis, a former officer of the Runianarch. Within all the defectors that had been gathered, there were always at least one who seemed to have a measure of command or spoke for the group. Sirasis had been selected by the defectors to speak for them, although there was the knowledge in the back of all their minds that none of them had any diplomatic experience.

They were all soldiers, and would be making decisions that may very well have significant ramifications in the future. A daunting responsibility, but the good news was that ADVENT would be more than happy to assist in their efforts. Sirasis was a Vitakarian, a good move in Saudia's opinion. Of all the races their similarities with Humans would help with how the rest of Humanity perceived aliens.

The alien did admittedly look like a very well-muscled soldier, but her face and voice clearly indicated her gender. Vitakarian voices did have a generally soothing effect on Humans, from some brief studies they'd done. A good advantage for the speaker of a people. She was tall though, even when sitting down.

"Chancellor," Sirasis greeted as she sat down. "I'm glad to finally meet you."

"The feeling is mutual, Representative," she answered. "This is an important day, for both our species."

"Yes," the alien shifted in her seat. "Although I would not call myself an representative, Chancellor. Just a soldier placed into a…delicate situation."

"Nonsense," Kamar interjected, shaking his head. "From personal experience not being a trained diplomat lets you cut through the meaningless drivel that plagues talks like this. You want results, correct? So do we. ADVENT respects directness, Representative Sirasis, we do not offend easily."

"From what I've experienced, your people are…reasonable," Sirasis nodded. "And I can say we have been treated well. Or at least protected from the more xenophobic of your species."

"An unfortunate reality," Saudia said. "It will take some time to fully change perceptions towards you species, which is what AEGIS intends to accomplish."

"In addition to integrating us into your society," Sirasis said, pursing her lips. "I don't know how best to say this, Chancellor, but while we appreciate ADVENT taking us in…there are those of us who would prefer to return to our own government. Whatever one may be left, by the end of the war, of course."

Saudia nodded. "Of course. In fact, that was something we need to discuss. We don't have an intention of forcing you to join ADVENT, though we will of course assist with integration for those who want it."

Sirasis looked relieved. "I'm glad to hear it."

"In the meantime," Kamar said, pulling out a file. "I've spoken with Chancellor Vyandar, as well as a few members of the Congress of Nations, and we all believe that it might be a good idea to get a head start on the business of…let us say the reformed government of your species. I think we can both agree we not leave the finer details till the day Vitakar is liberated."

The glowing eyes of the woman flashed as she blinked. "What are you suggesting, Ambassador?"

"That the new government of the Vitakara be established now," he answered brightly. "Staffed and managed by yourself and a chosen body of course. As a fully legitimate and recognized government by ADVENT, you would have a diplomatic embassy in our capital, and for all intents and purposes, be a fully functioning alien power. Allied, of course, with ADVENT."

"There are advantages to doing this," Saudia added. "The first is that your species is fully prepared to reestablish itself when Vitakar is retaken, or another capital planet should you so choose. In addition, it will further legitimize your position within us. Right now it is easy to paint yourself and your people as mere defectors and traitors. An established and functioning government will negate that to an extent. You would not be a band of defectors, but a Vitakarian government in opposition to the Ethereal Collective. One not controlled by the Ethereals, but maintained – completely – by yourselves."

"I…" she seemed at a loss for words. "Over what? We don't have anything. We're on your planet, and there definitely won't be support for us on the colonies now."

Saudia and Kamar exchanged a look. "If we go to this trouble of establishing a new Vitakarian government," Saudia said. "ADVENT will allocate enough territory for your people to live that will be considered sovereign ground of your people."

"And not necessarily limited to an area the size of a city," Kamar said, pulling out a file. "It would scale depending on how large it grew, with a maximum cap of course, up to the size of a small country. Potential plots would be large areas in Canada, Russia, Afghanistan, and the Midwest of the United States. Parts of it may need to be developed, but you will have enough room for the needs of your people."

"That is…generous," she said, still sounding stunned. "Until Earth is fully reclaimed and the attacks on Collective territory start, yes?"

"If your people choose so, it can be," Saudia said. "But ADVENT will not retake the land we give to you. Your people could maintain a location on our planet as long as you wish. It would be made to work."

"I see a problem…" she said. "Not a single one of us actually knows anything about running a government, let alone establishing it."

"Which is why you'll have help," Kamar said. "ADVENT will be happy to provide input and advice if needed. In a strictly advisory manner, of course. We would not want to build your government for you. In a case like this, it isn't necessarily a bad thing if you are unfamiliar with how to establish a government. You have a perspective and experience most in your position don't have. I presume that you don't consider the Aui'Vitakar perfect?"

She snorted. "No. But I can't claim to have thought about them much."

"But I suspect there are others who know a bit about it," Saudia noted. "The good, the bad, what to keep and what to discard. This, Representative, is your opportunity to make something better than the Aui'Vitakar."

"More importantly, Representative," Kamar added. "It is what it will represent. This will show to every Vitakara on Earth, and in the system, that there is another path. There is another choice they can make. The Vitakara no longer have to live under the Collective in fear simply because there is no choice. Now there will be, and what your people build will be the future of your species."

The Vitakarian visibly swallowed. "A lot of responsibility."

"Indeed," Saudia nodded. "Believe me, I am aware. Uniting an entire species is no easy task, but it is worthwhile. I believe you can handle the responsibility, and your people can as well. And as we said, we are certainly available to help."

"So…" Sirasis trailed off, deep in thought before she said anything. "I would need to discuss all of this with everyone. Hammer out something preliminary. See what they think."

"Of course," Saudia nodded. "Take as much time as you need. We will not be going anywhere."

"We won't delay," she promised. "Thank you, Chancellor. This is more than I expected."

Saudia gave her a smile. "We are not the Collective. I believe that in the future ADVENT can certainly work with aliens, and even be their allies. This would mark an excellent first step in that goal, one I certainly hope your people will consider."

"We will," Sirasis promised. "You have my word on that."

---

Center of ADVENT Research and Development – Russia

1/26/2017 – 1:09 P.M.

"Thanks to XCOM," Feng Mercado was saying. "We now have a far more complete understanding of elerium. Enough to fully solve the energy issue we had previously run into with the initial Dropship design." He clasped his hands behind his back. "As you can see, the results speak for themselves."

That they did. The design of the dropship was largely unchanged, but now there was a much lower, yet persistent hum which emanated from the dropship as the air was distorted under the anti-gravity emitters keeping the dropship up. "Quiet, fast, and with an integrated PDS field so they won't be shot down. The optimal solution for deploying large squads of soldiers."

"Yes," Saudia agreed. "Are these combat-ready?"

Feng scratched his chin. "They've passed our battery of tests. They're as close as we can get without a real field test. However, I wouldn't expect a large number of them soon. They're complicated to make, and pilots, maintenance staff, and mechanics need to learn how to pilot and repair them. That takes time. I would estimate we can use them in sufficient numbers in about…" he paused. "Two to three months, depending on how badly Commander Christiaens wants them."

"I'll have to think about it," Laura said, also looking at the dropship thoughtfully. "Consult with Command. But this will be utilized, good work."

"Excellent, come with me," Feng said, turning on his heel and leading them out of the hangar into a much narrower hallway. Eventually they stepped into an area which Saudia could clearly see had been used as a design room. The main rectangular table was clean, with a holoprojector, but the walls were treated to be used like whiteboards, and there was a large amount of scribbled notes, formulas, and other commentary (along with some rudimentary designs of whatever they were designing) written in English, Russian, and Japanese.

"We have, of course, been hard at work on other projects which have yet to materialize," Feng said, turning on the holoprojector. "Three of which I want to get your opinions on." The holodisplay turned on, showing what looked to be a large, thin, wing-like aircraft with a significant amount of weaponry on the underside. Looking at it from the side, it was definitely thicker around the center of the aircraft, though not by much, and the center looked like a small launchpad itself.

"The Thunderbird, as we're calling it," Feng said. "Our answer to establishing air superiority on any planet, not just Earth. As of now the armaments are…not fully decided, as there are several paths we can still take. But the Thunderbird itself would be capable of bombarding enemy positions, engaging enemy aircraft, and launching multiple missile types."

"That seems like a decent arsenal to me," Saudia noted. "What's missing?"

"This is I believe a perfect opportunity to explore drone swarm technology," Feng pointed to the center of the aircraft. "Right now there is room for a small fleet of next generation drones. However, the issue is the coordination of all of these drones at once. A machine intelligence is best suited to handling the sheer amount of computation necessary, but I'm unsure if that would be an acceptable addition."

"Something equivalent to what the Chinese did?" Laura asked. "I don't see an issue with that."

"The issue is that we're not sure it would be enough," Feng crossed his arms. "For best results, I would almost recommend an AI. Perhaps merging it with Project Ra?"

"I'll consider it," Saudia said. "Would this be automated?"

"It will have that capability," Feng answered. "I feel it will be necessary, even if it will be able to be piloted manually. But there likely will be a very small crew. Despite the size of the Thunderbird, it is intended to never actually have to land." He highlighted parts of the schematics. "There will be nuclear reactors powering it, and those will be able to be replenished manually or with drones."

"How large is this thing going to be?" Laura asked slowly, looking at the hologram.

"These are, as one of the designers said, the air equivalent of the United States aircraft carriers," Feng said. "A fortress in the sky. A flying flak tower of sorts if you wish to make that comparison. It will be…large."

"And where is that going to be constructed?" Saudia frowned. "And with the size…it will attract attention."

"That is an excellent point," Feng grinned. "The aliens would definitely take notice of a large construction zone. They might, at first, even think it's a spacecraft. They will investigate and discover, much to their relief, that it's likely a mere stepping stone to spaceflight. Dangerous, perhaps, but nothing that will set up alarms."

Saudia's lips curled up. "A diversion. I like it."

"We keep the actual fleet secret, and build an air fortress at the same time," Feng nodded happily. "The aliens keep watching these facilities, because obviously the fleet will eventually be built from them."

"That will probably buy us several months at least," Laura nodded slowly. "Especially if we include interceptable correspondences discussing the potential of the Thunderbird for future spacecraft designs. I'll speak with Elizabeth about this."

"Paradoxically," Feng said. "These will be fairly exposed, security wise, but an intentional sabotage to keep the fleet secret. Something real will be built, but it will ultimately be a smokescreen."

"I like it," Saudia nodded, referring more to the misdirection it would cause. The Thunderbird…she would have to wait and see how well it could actually work. "What is next?"

"The completion of Project Pluto," Feng continued, changing the hologram to show what appeared to be a large missile, with smaller missiles attached near the engine along the sides. "A US government project exploring the possibility of a nuclear-powered missile delivery system. It was abandoned, despite the fact the it seemed to work, for being potentially 'too provocative' towards the Soviet Union. Fortunately, we have no such concerns."

"And what makes this different?" Laura asked. "I've heard of this project before. It's a...very old one."

"In theory," Feng answered. "The nuclear power allows it to remain airborne potentially for months, flying at supersonic speeds around the world. It essentially allows us a missile deployment system that flies under the radar, that we can launch at any point, and they deploy at any point, at any place in the world. It would have a limited missile capacity, but this is a primitive defense network for our planet."

"Not bad," Laura said in approval. "The Collective would certainly find that disconcerting."

"Tests are still ongoing," Feng said. "However, I know it can be done within the month. As long as ADVENT Command agrees, these can be deployed the day they're completed."

"I'll ensure everything is in place," Laura said. "And you also have something else?"

"Yes," Feng once more changed the hologram. "This is more of a…lower tech idea, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. This project was specifically designed to be invisible to Collective sensors and used for surprise night bombing runs. Project Night Witch."

The hologram changed to show what looked like a small glider plane, with a small bomb arsenal strapped to it. It looked small, and fairly simplistic, which she suspected was the point. "The name certainly implies what this does," Laura said, a smile on her face. "It's good that the contributions of the Night Witches continue to be remembered."

"Indeed," Feng agreed. "Powered gliders. Invisible to most radars, painted black to reduce visibility, capable of gliding over their targets silently and leaving with the enemy none the wiser." He highlighted some parts of the glider. "Now, the armaments are obviously enhanced. Gas weapons, ClF3 bombs, cluster bombs. The intent is to cause damage, yes, but also psychologically affect the aliens. An invisible enemy is indeed a terrifying one.

"These don't have covered cockpits," Saudia noted, pointing to the hologram. "Is that safe?"

"With modern technology, yes," Feng confirmed, switching the hologram to a pilot encased in a cold weather suit with an oxygen supply. "The pilots will be perfectly safe, since they will be insulated and have plenty of oxygen supplied for the less than ideal conditions in the air."

"I assume you've built these then?" Laura asked.

"Yes, and tests have been extremely successful," Feng waved a hand once dismissively. "A trivial design, laughably easy compared to most of what we do. We've been running tests for months, and we have enough data to conclusively show the benefits, and more importantly, that it works. I intended for these to be used on the West Coast, or the operations that are no doubt happening in Canada."

Laura and Saudia exchanged a look. She definitely had the same thought Saudia had. The Night Witch fleet would definitely be useful for Long Dark. Laura cleared her throat. "I believe there would be some use for them. I want enough of them to be produced immediately for combat operations."

"Give me numbers, and we'll produce them," Feng confirmed. "More questions?"

"Not on this," Saudia answered. "But I do know you have more to show."

"Yes, several more projects which can be demonstrated," Feng said, as he led them out of the room. They walked for several minutes until they entered what Saudia remembered as a testing area which had several projects in various stages of being put through various tests and demonstrations. "We're still working on incorporating the Andromedon Barrier technology into something usable," Feng said, motioning to the left where there was a team of engineers with automated weapons shooting at a projected red barrier. "However, that project is proceeding well."

"What about that one?" Laura pointed to a more intricate testing ground which, as far as Saudia could see, involved drones and mirrors.

"Project Daedalus," Feng said as they kept walking past. "A project in the early stages; using mirrors to direct lasers onto specific targets from safe distances. Useful primarily as a defensive system, especially for our cities." He gave a short shrug. "However, as I said, it's in the early stages."

They eventually made it to a weapons range, which had an array of what looked like conventional weapons on a table, with Chief of Fabrication Ofelia before them. "Chancellor, Commander" she greeted Saudia and Laura respectively. "I suppose you are here for a demonstration of what we've been working on in the weapons department."

"If you want to start there, certainly," Saudia motioned to continue.

Ofelia grunted. "Well. Thanks to XCOM we have the capability to develop plasma weapons. However, they are relatively complex and expensive resource-wise, so they will not be mass-produced for some time."

"Our current weapons will suffice then," Laura nodded. "Plasma weapons can be reserved for Officers and special forces."

"In the meantime," Ofelia picked up one of the previous-generation rifles, although looking at this closer, Saudia could see that it seemed to be slightly sleeker than a previous assault rifle would have looked. "We've been researching a concept known as electrothermal-chemical technology. ETC for short. Likely the next step of weapons development had we not diversified and produced gauss, laser, and plasma weapons."

Saudia frowned. "I suppose the obvious question is why you're researching an obsolete concept?"

"Not obsolete," Ofelia disputed. "Each weapon type as advantages and drawbacks. The closest comparison is gauss rifles, which, while they are more powerful than ETC weapons individually, they cannot match the volume of fire and capacity that ETC weapons are capable of. We know that an M2 Browning is more powerful than a gauss autorifle, correct? But we would not be able to produce a gauss equivalent because the technology can't work for a weapon with that much output." She patted the rifle. "With ETC tech, you can."

"And what does that mean?" Laura asked. "Clearly, mind you."

"In short," Ophelia said. "ETC weapons utilize plasma and electricity to ignite and control the propellant in firearms. This results in much greater power, accuracy, and relatively cheap for the damage it outputs. Specifically, it only requires a few changed components in previous generation weapon schematics to turn them into ETC-capable variants."

She turned towards the range and aimed at an alloy-outlined dummy target, and fired. It sounded very similar to a previous generation gun, enough that Saudia couldn't really tell the difference. With that said, the dummy with multiple holes in it definitely made the point. Conventional weapons of that size would have been lucky to even dent alien alloys.

"Aside from being easy and cheap to mass produce," Ofelia continued, turning back to them. "There is another advantage. These are almost completely EMP resistant. Assuming one is not firing when a pulse hits, it will still work. So here you go, Chancellor, an easy way to outfit the various militias, upgrade all our conventional stuff, and something good to arm our allies with. I'd think even our own soldiers would want this." She set the rifle down. "They want stopping power and raw damage per shot? Gauss is the way to go. If they want to just lay down fire as quickly as possible? ETC guns are for them." She patted the rifle. "What do you think?"

"Useful," was the first thing that came to mind. "I'd prefer we see how they do against aliens, but it is a good way to ensure the militias are properly armed, and that we have reliable weapons if ever faced with an EMP weapon. If they can be quickly produced, all the better. Anything to add, Commander?"

Laura nodded to Ofelia. "I'll be coordinating with ADVENT Command. We'll have production numbers shortly. Send over everything you've gathered on them."

"Yes, Commander."

"China will also be interested in these," Saudia mused. "It can only improve our standing with them."

"Can't wait to see what cheap knock off they come up with from our work," Ofelia muttered. "But good for them."

"Excellent work, to both of you," Saudia said to Ofelia and Feng. "Any other notes you want to make?"

"Nothing of import yet," Feng shook his head. "Refining of the Order of Terra schematics is proceeding well, as is the Celestial Project. We'll have updates for you shortly."

"Keep me informed then," she said. "But today you've made a lot of people happy."