Subway Tunnels- Buenos Aires, Argentina

8/24/17- 9:05 AM

Through my helmet, I stared back at the woman. Her eyes had an odd feeling to them - a glare that spoke don't fuck with this bull or you get the horns kind of thing. She looked pretty weary, like she'd seen things she shouldn't have.

"XCOM, huh. Took you guys long enough." She looked over my shoulder. "Is this everyone they sent?"

Rafal stepped up. "There's an ADVENT team here, too. We'll let them know we found you. They should be here shortly."

She nodded. Something about her made me feel she felt...unsure about us. Wary, even. "Follow us. We'll show you where we live."

We followed her through a busted door in the angled subway car, which was moved telekinetically back into place by one of Zoe's compatriots. We moved through the tunnels, Rafal radioing Elijah as we moved up through the tracks.

"After the Collective hit, we didn't have anywhere else to go. They had a much bigger presence here. They hit the place hard. Sectoids, Andromedons, Titans - hell, the fucking First Guardian was here at one point. So we hid in the outskirts or down here, scavenging what we could. Of course, they're all gone now - Collective doesn't seem to give a damn about this place anymore." She chuckled. "Guess that helped us in the long run."

"How'd you get awakened?" Anastasiya asked. "Sectoid tech?"

Zoe nodded. "Right on. I was...well, it's complicated. I was here when the resistance movement here was starting. None of us had any psionics. We'd caught a patrol of Runiarach and gotten word of a supply depot. While we were raiding it, I found what looked like some kind of computer. Turns out it was a piece of Sectoid psi tech. It gave me a massive headache, almost damn well passed out. Friends had to carry me back here. I started hearing voices, and a few days later, when I was frustrated, well..." She aimed a hand at the concrete tunnel's walls, a blast of dynamo psionics scorching the gray surface. "Boom. Eventually, it happened to a few more of us through trial and error, and here we are."

"How long have you had them?"

"About a month or two, I think. Hard to keep track of time with all of this." She gestured with her hands. "Not what I wanted in my life, but…" She trailed off. "...Things happened."

Same.

We finally arrived at a subway station, where more people with various firearms were waiting. Zoe waved them down, the rest of them staring in awe at us. Compared to their ragtag assortment of armor and mismatched weapons, we were dressed like gods. Psi-tech, psi rifles, grenades, plasma rifles - we were a force of nature in human form.

She said something in Spanish again, 'XCOM' being the only word I could pick out. Sofea translated for me.

"She is saying, 'They are XCOM, they are here to help us fight the aliens.'"

When she finished talking, the crowd (calling them a crowd was overstating it, I guessed there were at most around fifteen people) whooped and cheered, before quickly settling down. We walked onto the platform to meet them. We immediately got barraged with people who I was guessing were thanking us, asking questions, or a combination of the two. The members of my team who knew Spanish started chatting with them. I broke off from the group, and followed Violet to a corner.

"Where's the leader of this cell?" I asked, gesturing to the other people who'd mostly dispersed and were mostly sitting around, chatting. Their tones seemed excited, upbeat. And I couldn't blame them. It wasn't every day an XCOM squad paid you a visit. They started taking their helmets off, trying to seem more human to them. I kept mine on because...well, I just liked having it on.

"Rodriguez? He's out on a mission right now. He'll be back soon."

"What's his story?"

"Colonel in the Argentinian military. Was on leave when the aliens invaded. I got separated from my family, found him. One thing led to another, and he took me in."

Oh no. Were her parents….

I didn't want to ask. Her tone of voice didn't exactly speak 'We're good friends', and I didn't want to make a bad first impression by asking her nosy personal questions.

"Hey, why's your helmet still on?"

I shrugged. The modulator hid my voice well - most if it, anyhow. I unhooked my psi rifle, placing it on the ground. With a swift motion, I took off my helmet, shaking my head. The look on her face when she saw my face went from chill to what I could only describe as what the fuck.

"Hi. My name's Dawn. Dawn Conley. XCOM Telepath."

And then she started...chuckling.

"So XCOM recruits teenagers like us now?" She snorted. "Well, not the most out-of-the-world thing I've seen. How old are you?"

"Nineteen."

"Twenty."

The other resistance fighters turned to look at me, and suddenly I had an entire subway stations' worth of eyes looking at me. I extended a hand. She shook her head chuckling, leaving me hanging. "Así que nos enviaron una niña como refuerzo? Genia!"

Spanish. Damn. Don't know what she's saying.

"Hey! XCOM, right?"

A man in Inquisitor's armor ran out of the station's entrance, his hair ruffled. When he saw the fully armored XCOM squad standing in front of him, his eyes widened. I walked past Violet to the man, whose gaze had shifted from my team to me.

"You're an Inquisitor?"

"How old are you?"

"Old enough."

He shook his head. "Can't say I haven't seen weirder. Stanley Davidson, ADVENT Inquisitor. I was the one who made contact with the cell. Who's your squad leader?"

I gestured to Rafal. "He's the Overseer. The real leader of the op is on his way. We split up to find you guys easier."

He nodded. "More of you. Good. There's...there's a lot going on around here. These people need all the help they can get. By the way, what's your name?"

"Dawn Conley. Telepath - powerful one."

He shook my hand. "Nice meeting you, Dawn."

I watched him walk past me to Rafal, and the two immediately began talking. I turned back to Violet, who was eyeing my armor.

"Impressive armor." Her voice was laced with jealousy. "Psi-tech?"

"Yep. Best stuff XCOM has to offer. Gives you free physical and mental shields."

"Interesting." I couldn't help but notice there was a tense sense in the air. I felt suspicion radiating from her mind - actually, it was more like concern. From the way she looked at me to the way her body language was acting suggested something was making her uncomfortable for some reason.

"Were you not expecting someone my age to come?" I said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood - but I could tell I was failing horribly.

"Well, I don't suppose they wouldn't have sent you if you weren't talented. I've seen kids much younger than you killed for less, though. I hope you know what you're doing."

I crossed my arms. "I do know what I'm doing."

"I-"

"Dawn!"

I turned around. Elijah and his guys had gotten here early, I guess. Rafal was walking up to him. I turned back to Violet - Zoe.

Damnit Dawn, she has a name.

"My commanding officer." I said. "We can catch up later if you want to."

She mumbled something, shaking her head and walking away. Elijah came up to me, taking his helmet off.

"I see you got acquainted with her." He raised an eyebrow, noticing the look of uncertainty in my eyes. "Is something wrong?"

"I don't think she likes me very much."

"Why so?"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure."

He shook his head. "I think she'll have to like us sooner or later, or better or less. Come with us, Dawn. We've got a resistance to build here."

Ten Minutes Later

We stood around a makeshift table with several maps with lines and circles drawn in Sharpie. XCOM and ADVENT stood on one side, and the leadership of the cell, which was made of this Rodriguez guy, Zoe, and two other people whose names I hadn't learned yet.

Rodriguez himself definitely had done a good job of running the cell. It was a small operation, but he'd done a decent job. His past experience spoke for itself - various operations against terrorists, gangs, and cartels pre-war, with an almost impeccable record. No corruption either, from what I could tell. He was wearing a worn-down military uniform, with a fading dark green beret to match, with a pair of brown boots. His tall stature, body language and serious expression spoke professional.

No wonder they'd survived as long as they had.

"Thank you for coming here." He said, breaking the silence. "I cannot begin to emphasize how much we appreciate Humanity's finest coming here to help our cause." He glanced at us, seemingly unsurprised by my youth. "Although we are making an impact - you wouldn't be here if we weren't, the resistance, or what we know if it anyway, is in no shape for long-term operations."

Elijah nodded. "All of us, save one-" He physically indicated to me with a nod of his head. "Are experienced in special operations warfare. Intelligence, sabotage, guerrilla warfare - we will assist you to the best of your ability. We've also brought equipment to enhance your fighting and communication capabilities."

He smiled. "Excellent." He turned to look at me, gesturing with a hand. "And what role does she fill?"

I looked at Elijah, silently asking if I could speak. He nodded, smiling.

"Psionics, sir. I can help train your psions to better their style, and I can use my telepathy to make operations or information gathering much easier."

"But...none of our psions are telepaths."

I shrugged. "No biggie. Some things are universal across disciplines, like focusing or hardening your mental defenses. I've been trained by some of XCOM's best, Ethereals included."

He smiled. "Then I will be more than happy to allow you to help. Although I suspect some of the people here may not initially take kindly to a young person directing them."

I just smiled. "Oh, you won't have to worry about that."

Elijah stepped in. "We've also brought advanced software capable of intercepting and translating enemy communications."

"Oh?"

"Yes. I'll make monitoring enemy activity much easier."

"Much appreciated, but we already have a way of doing that."

"I'm sorry."

"You didn't know?" Rodriguez looked at Violet, who just shrugged.

"Sorry."

He turned back to Elijah. "No matter. Follow me. I'll show you the ace in the hole we have."

Elijah beckoned me. "Dawn, with me."

I reluctantly followed Elijah out of the room, with Violet catching up next to Rogriguez. We walked down the tiled wall, past numerous sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows people had set up as makeshift beds. We stopped at a break room, where I'd noticed the door had been modified to have a makeshift lock-and-key system in place. Rodriguez took a key out of his pocket, stuck the key in, and opened the door.

"Malliena! You've got visitors!"

Huh?

I stuck my head in, and my eyes widened. Sitting at one of the chairs in the room, fiddling with a Rubik's Cube, was a female Dath'Haram. When she looked up at us, I noticed she had a black bruise on her right eye, and a small scar on her bald scalp. She was wearing a dirty, beaten-down Runiararch undersuit (I wondered where the armor was), and when she opened her mouth to speak, she was missing a tooth or two, like someone had punched her in the face and knocked a few teeth out. She seemed thinner than the other Dath'Haram I'd seen in XCOM. Had they not been properly feeding her?

"Rodriguez." She said flatly. "If you need medical assistance, I have told you before, I cannot work with these tools-" She stopped mid-sentence when she saw me and Elijah. She shrieked, falling out of her chair and scampering to the stained wall behind her arms raised like she was trying to shield herself from us. It was liked the Dread Lord himself has just walked in. She started stammering in...whatever the Dath'Haram language was. I didn't know what that was, but I did know Ethereal Script.

Thank you, Aegis.

Elijah was about to do something, but I held a hand out in front of him, mouthing I'll handle this to him silently. He pulled back, eyeing the cowering alien as I slowly walked over to her, my hands up.

"Get away from me, XCOM! Whatever you want from me, I will do it!"

I took my helmet off and gently set it down on the table. She froze, hesitating as she noticed my young features. I got one one knee, leveling with her eyes perfectly, looking into their brown orbs.

["I'm not here to hurt you,"] I said, the Ethereal words flowing off of my tongue like I'd known this language for years. ["My names' Dawn, like the morning sunrise."] I put a hand to my chest. ["What's your name?"]

Take it easy, take it slow.

"...You...you speak Ethereal. H...how?"

["One of your Elders taught me how to speak like you. Well, two of them actually."]

"You mean Aegis and Caelior."

I nodded. ["That's right. See? If those Elders can trust me, then you can trust me."]

"But...they abandoned the Collective."

["They're not so bad. They...simply had a change of heart. Besides, Aegis himself trained me. If I'm good enough for an Ethereal, that's gotta be credible, right?"]

She shivered. "The people here...they have hurt me. I do not know why, aside from the fact that I am an alien. I have not killed anyone before- I am a medic. All I do is fix and heal people."

I turned back to the trio at the door. From the confused looks on their faces, they didn't understand a single word she'd said.

["What did they do to you?"] I said softly. Dath'Haram, unlike humans, had almost no aggressive or overly confrontational behaviors- well, almost all of them, anyway. When talking to one, raising your voice was a sign of instability and losing control. As much as I hated to say it, Dath'Haram, emotionally and mentally at least, were more fragile than humans.

And unfortunately, much easier to manipulate and take advantage of. Not what I was doing here, of course - I had a conscience. But by gently peering into her mind, you could tell she'd been abused, both emotionally and physically- though which one they'd done more of, I couldn't tell just yet.

"They...I was captured when they killed my team. I hid while the others fought, and I gave up. My English was not good, and I may have misspoken. I was beaten. Hard. But Rodriguez took me back here. He promised me I would have relative safety if I translated Collective transmission and healed his people when need be."

["Do you want to leave?"]

"I do. I have healed many here, but they have only contempt. I rarely leave this room, except to clean myself and go to the bathroom. It is…" She looked down, crossing her legs. "I did not wish to hurt my people, but if I must stay alive, I must stay alive."

["Thank you, Malliena. I will be back later."]

I stood up, putting my helmet back on, walking out the door, doing my best to hide my worry and .

"What was that?"

"That, Violet, was Ethereal Script. As for the treatment of your prisoner…"

Elijah held up a hand, interrupting me. "It's something we will talk about later. I believed you were going to say something, Rodriguez."

He cleared his throat. "Yes. She's been useful in decoding enemy transmissions. We keep her alive, but alien food's been scarce."

I was about to open my mouth and give this wiseass a piece of my mind before I held myself back.

Not everyone's tolerant as you. This is war, remember? It's not squeaky clean with a side of sunshine and rainbows. These people are desperate, outnumbered. They'll take whatever shot they've got.

I followed them back to the meeting room, where the meeting resumed.

"As I was saying, we've got a decent monitoring system, but compared to the other cells we know? We've got almost nothing. Radio communication is almost nonexistent, and sometimes we've had to have our people act as couriers to deliver messages." He shrugged. "And we barely know how effective the others are right now. We're pretty much in the dark. This cell's coordinated alright, but the others? We don't think so."

"Rest assured, I have that as a priority. I'll need to take a look at your maps, compare them with the data I have. After that, my team will set up the necessary communication equipment, monitor it through satellites if necessary."

"Much appreciated. I'm sure the other cells will be happy to hear ADVENT and XCOM are here."

Violet raised a hand. "Question, if you will."

"Yes?"

"So what happens after this is all over, assuming we survive this and actually kick the Collective off our country?"

"Then I assume ADVENT will move in military forces to finish the job, and your country will become a member nation of ADVENT."

She sighed. "I see."

Rodriguez turned to her. "Zoe-"

"No. Now is the time." She scowled, looking at us. "Where's the choice in that?"

I stepped up. "I'm sorry?"

She shook her head. "Let me guess if we make out of this, what happens next? ADVENT's going to walk in, play the hero, and add us to the list of countries under them, right?"

"I…"

"And with no input from us, right? Just like what your country did to mine in your little 'Dirty War'?" She spat. "Manipulating us just for your own use, whether it's money or resources. First it was fighting 'communism' and 'socialism' to 'restore democracy', and what happened? You helped put the NRP in power because you deemed them 'better' for your own ego, and look what happened! Thousands disappeared, families torn apart, and for what?"

I didn't know how to respond to that. "Zoe, I-"

"Don't you fucking call me that! Look who you put in charge, ADVENT! You put in that psycho perra to fight crime? Have your Peacekeepers walk the streets? Your Intelligence acting like the Secretariat? I know what happens in your jails, your Experimentation Labs-"

"I'm not ADVENT!" I almost yelled back, putting my armored fists on the table. "You think I wanted all the shit ADVENT comes with?"

"Well you and your Commander seem pretty damn comfy with them, then."

"Because we have a shared goal - fighting the aliens."

She crossed her arms. "And what comes after that, hmm? I know your PATRIOT watches the Internet. What's stopping them from marking whoever they'd see as 'subversive' and make them disappear?"

"You know the cartels and corruption that your mentioned earlier? ADVENT's wiped the floor with those assholes. Cut those motherfuckers out like a tumor and bled 'em dry." I really didn't have a coherent way to respond to what she said. I mean, she had a right to be wary of ADVENT. Although Argentina's junta had been overthrown after the Falklands War, the scars of what'd happened remained in many people's minds, even those born years after it'd ended - like Zoe.

I wasn't going to judge her for her concerns, but at the same time, they seemed a little extreme. Yes, Stein was a sadist who probably read Orwell's 1984 for fun and watching people squirm in the Experimentation Labs. Yes, PATRIOT and ADVENT Intelligence had their eyes, noses, ears, fingers, and everything else on the internet. Yes, ADVENT had a lot of authoritarian-leaning policies and stances.

But ADVENT could change.

And if things went to shit...well, there was always us.

"Yes, I'm sure they did. Tell me Dawn, what made you buy into them? Hmm? I suppose the Commander wanted someone especially loyal to his cause, then? A kid whose loyalty is drilled in by propaganda?"

"Oh, you don't get to-"

"Enough!" Elijah slammed his fists down onto the table, shaking it. "Quiet, the both of you!" He pointed at Violet. "We are here to do one thing, Zoe. We are here to kill aliens, and give you a decent fucking chance to survive rather then get flattened like Cuba. We are here to help you, and if you want us to leave, do not come crying for help when the Zararch and the rest of the Ethereal puppets come for you."

He turned to me. "Dawn, just...don't say anything else right now." He turned back to Rodriguez. "I'm sorry about that. Please, continue."

"With all due respect, sir." Another person, probably a member of Rodriguez's inner circle, spoke up. "Violet brings up a legitimate point here. If we're successful, what happens next? Do they just...leave us?"

"Violeta has a point." Someone else said. "They have superior firepower, armor, and psions. These people could wipe us anytime they'd like. Are we going to have any say in what happens when this place is freed from those damn aliens? We're bleeding out here for our freedom, and I'll be damned if ADVENT's going to take this from us!"

Elijah sighed, lowering his head for a minute, as if his stare was burrowing into the table. "Let me make this absolutely clear to all of you. If we wanted to kill you, we would have done it months ago. Your forces compared to ours are weak as of now - that is why we are here to train you. Betraying you and removing you from the position you're currently in would only make things harder for us. Now that that's out of the way, yes, ADVENT does intend to establish a stable and secure government."

He paused. "I understand your concerns - believe me, at the start of this war, my leader wished to wage war on ADVENT to ensure what we called 'independence'. Now, there is only ADVENT, and only ever will be ADVENT. If nothing else, our policies will speak for themselves. I guess many of you have had run-ins with cartels or gangs?"

Many people nodded.

"I can guarantee you ADVENT and its competence, combined with its liberal usage of its many branches, is the reason many of them do not exist anymore in ADVENT territories. If nothing else, we will clear your country and others of those who have victimized and terrorized your for the sake of blood and money. Look at what we did in Mexico. In less than a week, all politicians and military members involved with the cartel were imprisoned or dead, and those running and manning the cartels were wiped out nearly to a man."

He leaned forward, scanning the small crowd. "Rest assured, ADVENT will do the same to both those scum and the aliens who have defiled your homeland."

The resistance leader's face looked blustered for a moment, before he collected himself, but not before sneaking in a quick glare at Zoe. "Ahem. Yes. I was going to say we actually have a raid planned tonight." His finger jammed down on a spot on the edge of Buenos Aires' urban outskirts marked in red ink.

"Supply outpost's right here. They get resupplied every week via Gateway like clockwork. Our recon says resistance there is minimal at best. We're going to go there tonight, hit it. With your forces now here, I think taking it's going to be much easier. Having you there'll definitely boost morale for our fighters. Show them things are turning around."

"What kind of supplies are you talking about?"

"Weapons and armor, mostly. Swipe some food for our resident prisoner, too."

Rafal spoke up. "What about food for the people here? I doubt the aliens have food you can digest?"

"Thanks to our resident Inquisitor." He nodded towards Stanley. "ADVENT airdropped food for us last week. We expect such to be regular now. No more scavenging for us." He chuckled. "Elijah, I'm sure you can have some of your people volunteer to come with us tonight."

"Won't be an issue."

"Excellent. Now, about those radios…"

Subway Tunnels- Buenos Aires, Argentina

8/24/17- 6:43 PM

"So a raid, huh?" I cocked my gun, making sure the connection was working on my psi rifle and pistol respectively. "Sounds easy enough."

"For us, yes. But for these fighters...I'm not so sure." Elijah checked his plasma rifle, pursing his lips.

"Whaddya mean?"

"This 'Violet'. She has potential. But she seems reckless. Almost arrogant. She seems to almost balk at us asking to help."

"Well, I mean she did outright call us imperialistic. I mean, with what American and Europe have done to the Americas in the past, her fear isn't exactly unjustified by any means, but…"

"Imperialistic is almost exactly what ADVENT plans to do here once we kick the Collective off this place. They wish to expand and be a representative body of all humanity on Earth." He attached a pistol to his thigh. "She is not wrong about our intentions - but she isn't exactly right, either. Granted, we have no intention of enslaving or committing mass atrocities."

"I mean….you have a point. But from her perspective, she kinda makes sense. I mean, not every human being's going to like ADVENT. Hell, I don't exactly approve of them sometimes."

He paused. "What do you mean?"

I sighed, shaking my head. "If you thought I was gonna say the Collective's better then ADVENT, you're outta luck. ADVENT's much less likely falling apart like the Collective is. And the lack of interdimensional cultist cannibalism is nice too. No more crime, healthcare for everyone, no more homelessness, no more overarching rampant capitalism, actual solutions to issues like global warming and world hunger… that's not even the half of it. I can't say I hate them. I don't mind living the rest of my life under their watch."

He raised an eyebrow. "But?"

"But…" I sighed. "It's kinda complicated, and I don't really want to get into it right now."

"Can you give me the short version?"

Alrighty then. "Well, there's a bit, but the 'short' version I'll give you is their obsession with competence."

"I'm listening."

"Before this, I wanted to be a historian. I wanted to work in a museum, if you can believe that." I chuckled. Now, I'd be helping, if not outright making the events that one would see in a museum. "I loved reading about past empires, civilizations, people, that sort of thing. Here's the thing." I clasped my armored hands together. "I like how ADVENT is a lot of things. Their focus on competence and efficiency is something I don't think anyone can disagree with. You see their propaganda, their news.."I shook my head. "They pride themselves a lot on it, which is fine. The Restraints, the laws, the rules non-state actors have to bend to. It works. But lots of people think ADVENT's gonna be some kind of empire for humanity that'll last forever."

"And you think it won't?"

I pointed at him, winking. "Bingo. Precisely. Everything dies, Elijah. I'm gonna die one day. You're gonna die someday. The Commander, Aegis, the Imperator, Patricia, the Battlemaster, T'-"

I cut myself off before I could finish. "-The Collective. Ahem. You get it. Empires and people rise and fall. ADVENT and XCOM?" I shrugged. "No different. Everything flows, everything changes into something different. The Romans owned almost all of Europe, and collapsed thanks to internal and external factors. The British went from an empire spanning the world to just their home country and a few territories. The Ethereals, well...they used to rule the galaxy, and now there's less than twenty of them left over from that. This is no different."

I shrugged. "Will ADVENT last for a long time? I sure do damn hope so, and I'm pretty sure they will. But it's not perfect. It's not indomitable. Is it a tough nut to crack? Sure. But everything's gonna crack eventually. ADVENT is no exception. Time, apathy, arrogance."

I slammed a fist into my other palm. "People think we're hot shit for fighting the Collective, and while we're doing a really good fucking job, there has to be more out there we have to fight. What if we find an enemy more competent than the Ethereals? More dangerous? What if those guys from New York decide to fuck with our shit for shits and giggles? You and I saw what they did? We've got nothing even close to that!" I sighed.

"I don't blame them, but...I feel like people are taking too many things for granted here. I don't know. Maybe I don't know what I'm saying. Maybe I'm just some dumb kid playing 4D mental chess with thngs way out of my league."

"I see. And what do you think will happen to ADVENT when it ends?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it'll become a completely new entity. Maybe someone's going to find a way to mess with the Restraints. Maybe...maybe whatever." I put my helmet on, hearing the satisfying click as it connected with the rest of my suit. "You get me?"

"You're not wrong, that's for sure. And your concerns are valid. The Lion's taken advantage of his enemies' arrogance many times and succeeded every time. The West. Oil companies. Radical terrorists. Yet when ADVENT came, he chose to work with them rather than fight them. He changed. Not unlike what you said."

"Guess that's fair. Maybe I'm just thinking about things too far into the future. But...I am sure of one thing, Elijah."

"And that is?"

"Change. And change will come. One way or another."

Buenos Aires Streets, Buenos Aires, Argentina

8/24/17- 7:24 PM

Elijah, Sofea, and I followed Violet and her squad. It was evening, and although we didn't have the cover of night just yet the streets were still empty. We used the abandoned buildings and cars for cover, slipping into alleyways when we could. Besides Zoe, there was another psion on the team, Juana, an Adept telekine. She was around Sofea's age, and apparently was a cop before the Collective hit.

"Everyone remember the plan? Go in, take as many supplies as we can, try to stay undetected, and get out."

We all nodded.

"Dawn, can you use your telepathy to take out or divert anyone who's on site?"

"Can do, no problem."

"Alright. One more time, just to make sure. We go in, get as many supplies as we can, and get the hell out. Standard op for us."

"Should be easier with our new friends." One of the other fighters muttered. "Especially now we have a telepath."

I smiled under my helmet. It'd been a while since I'd actually had combat. Granted, this wasn't in the setting I was typically used to, but then again, nothing I did these days was typical.

We moved further down the road, until Violet held up a fist. We paused, hunkering down.

"Dawn, telepathy."

"On it."

I immediately felt the area around me. Ignoring the minds of my teammates, I felt several Vitakara and Mutons guarding the front gate. Moving past them, there...actually wasn't a lot else. A few more aliens inside the outpost hanging around or doing computer work. The only enemies that felt like threats were the several Vanguards hanging around the supply dump. I felt around in the guard's minds, seeing if I could pick anything out worthy of note.

"We've got Vanguards, Vitakara, and some Mutons. Guy in charge is sleeping right now, so that's something. There are some automated turrets, along with some laser tripwires on the perimeter that'll trigger an alarm if activated. I think I can have them disabled."

"How so?"

"There's a little control room on the top floor. There's an office there managing the controls. Pretty sure I can have him turn them off, make things a bit easier for y'all."

"Anything else?"

"Nope."

"Alright. Everyone, move in."

The three of us trailed behind the fighters as they turned the corner. The outpost itself was small- built into a large multi-story parking garage. The cars had been cleared out, and a small barracks had been constructed behind it, with an observation post on top.

Shouldn't be too hard.

"Alright, Dawn. Turn off the security."

I felt the officer's mind, idly typing reports on a keyboard, yawning.

Guess the evils of paperwork are universal.

I gently seized control of him, guiding his fingers across the screen.

Turn off all security. It's that drill you were told about last week, remember? You really should sleep more, it does wonders for your brain.

With a click, the tripwires were disabled.

Turn off that radio. Your superiors don't need to listen for the rest of the night.

Click.

Go to sleep. Forever.

He slumped in his chair, dead.

"Outer defenses are down. You're free to go. Radio's down, do they can't send out an SOS if things get noisy."

"Alright. Stay here for now, provide support to us. We'll show you how it's done." They moved towards the garage, Sofea following them.

I looked over at Elijah, who he shook his head.

"Let them go. If they need help, you can do it."

"But I should be in there, helping them."

I could tell he was smiling. "Sofea is quite qualified. Watch, little soldier."

I moved forward slightly, watching them as they moved in and started firing. Zoe immolated the front guards with a Rift, while Juana ripped the gate off its hinges with a flick of a wrist. The others followed them in, spraying the inside of the complex with gunfire. I watched through the minds of the aliens inside, observing the fighters as they moved in. I noticed they'd pick armor off dead Vitakarians if possible, as well as any ammo and weapons they could. It made sense why they had no gauss weapons - they'd just scavenged everything from the dead.

Not bad.

Not bad at all.

I felt the Vanguards guarding the supplies meant for us. I focused on their minds, catching them unprepared. With a thought, the five Sectoids dropped dead, but not before-

"Zoe!" I almost yelled through the comms. "Wait!"

"What?"

"The gate locking the supplies! You need a card from one of the guards to open it!"

"I don't need a card to open it."

"But-"

Before I could finish speaking, she blasted a hole in the gate with psionic energy, melting through. Which normally would've been fine, except triggering the gate to open without using a keycard sounded an alarm.

Which woke up the rest of the base.

Goddamnit! Why didn't you fucking listen?

"Shit! More enemies!"

I looked over at Elijah. "Ah, screw this. I'm moving in!"

He nodded. "See what I said?"

I smiled when I realized what he meant.

I charged across the street, my metal boots pounding the concrete as I rushed into the building, making sure not to step on any dead bodies.

Gotta move, gotta move. Can't let 'em die.

You can chew her out later.

I ran to the third floor, peeking out behind the concrete wall. It didn't look good. No one was dead, but two of her people were injured, and the rest were cornered. Sofea's armor has taken some damage, probably from a grenade, and was using her nanites to draw material from the concrete around her.

Time to be a hero.

I placed my gun on the wall, using it to stabilize the weapon. I started firing in bursts, purple energy spewing from my gun as my HUD lined up the targets, just like practice.

Ba-boom. Ba-boom. Ba-boom.

A Muton's head burst. Two Vitakarians' chests erupted with spurts of yellow blood. A Custodian's head was turned to ash, psionic energy burning through the metal and alloys, melting its circuits. I'd use a psionic grenade in this case, but since they were limited until we got back to base, I'd use the old 'kill 'em with the mind' trick.

The front line of Vitakarians attacking the group turned on their heels all at once in a collective simultaneous maneuver, mowing down the Custodians and Mutons behind them with a hail of plasma fire. In the crowd, others turned their grenades on themselves, immolating themselves and their allies with a thought.

Do as I say.

The resistance fighters paused, mouths agape as the enemies turned on each other, with the exception of Sofea, who was used to seeing telepaths in action. She used my slaved Vitakarians as meat shields, gunning down enemies with her plasma rifle.

My kill count's gonna be so high.

I sensed incoming reinforcement, and I immediately cast my telepathic influence on them, turning the Mutons against the Vitakara and Custodians. One Muton Elite stamped a Borelian's head into the ground, turning it into mush. Another body slammed a Vitakarian, breaking his ribs with a resounding crack before finishing him off with a headshot. As dumb as normal Mutons were, their sheer strength and muscle mass gave even Borelians a run for their money.

But in terms of brain against brawn, my brain won here every time.

"Grab what you can and get the fuck out of there!" I ordered through the radio. "Get in, get out! We don't need to overstay our welcome!"

Zoe seemed to heed my words, ordering her group to grab as much as they could carry. Sofea pulled back and started piling up on supplies, content to let my minions do the work.

Telepathy made things so easy sometimes - it really did.

"Dawn, we're loaded up. Get outta there, we'll meet you back at the front!"

"Understood!" I turned around, running down the parking lot. It reminded me of back home - normally there'd be all sorts of cars here, the smell of gas, people yapping, babies crying. Now? It was just eerie silence. I half expected a monster to jump out at me from the darkness. I almost missed the night bustle of Nashville, the city alight at night, the cars zooming up and down the street, airplanes overhead. But now this place was a ghost town.

And I was going to add a lot more ghosts to this place when the day was done.

I met up with the gang outside, Sofea's Titan armor stained with blood. The pack on Zoe's back was almost overflowing with supplies, and she had a lot of plasma rifle clips strapped to her hips and thighs. When she looked at me, she had a look of worry on her face.

"Dawn, I-"

"Later." I said through gritted teeth. "Let's go."

Subway Tunnels, Buenos Aires, Argentina

8/24/17- 7:45 PM

The walk back to their base was oddly silent. I felt a sense of pride emanating from the resistance fighter's minds, something I could tell they hadn't felt in a while.

XCOM's here to save us.

They can lead us to victory.

With Violet- Zoe (call her by her real name, damnit!), it felt different. She'd eaten her words by telling me to stay back earlier. If she'd given me more time to talk, we could've made this a whole lot less of a shitshow. Yeah, no one died - yet.

We'll show you how it's done.

Well, I showed them how it was done today.

I couldn't help but think about her little rant on imperialism and whatnot earlier. She wasn't wrong about us, not entirely. ADVENT did intend to take this country sooner or later - but there'd be no slavery, none of that 'white man's burden' shit the Europeans used to justify oppressing those in the Americas or Africa way back when. Times had changed.

And people had to change.

Juana led us back into the subway, me carefully scanning the area for any patrols. We made our way down, and back into the station, where we were greeted by the rest of our teams and the fighters. Rodriguez was at the front, hands on his hips.

"How did it go?"

"Good. We got what you needed, and no major casualties."

"I see." He turned to Zoe. "How did it go?"

"It...went fine, Rodriguez. She did better than I expected, I'll give her that." Violet dropped the supplies oh the floor, scooting them to the edge of the wall. "I...I have to go to the bathroom."

I could tell she didn't mean that at all.

Rodriguez walked up to me as Violet stormed off. "Something happen between you and her?"

I shrugged. "She got arrogant. A little pissy. Didn't listen to me when I was gonna warn her about something. Had to go in and save her."

"Did she now?" He raised an eyebrow. "You're not kidding."

"Why would I?"

"Hmm. Follow me, Dawn. Let's talk."

I followed him away from the crowd, to an abandoned ticket station. He leaned on the wall, gesturing for me to do the same. He sighed.

"I'm going to be honest with you, Dawn. Zoe- or Violet, whatever you wish to call her, is not like many people your age. You're American, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Mmm. You are lucky, Dawn. Where you come from, you probably didn't have to worry about the cartels like we did down here. Law enforcement getting paid off, gang violence, bloody shootouts - it wasn't like that everywhere here, but it was enough of a problem to ruin many people's lives. Zoe's, in fact."

"What do you mean?"

He sighed. "She's had a rough life. Grew up poor, dad joined the cartels to support her family. Didn't have that much of a stable home life. She's been through a lot. When I found her, separated from her parents, she barely had anything left. I don't know how she does it, keeping herself together after all of this."

"Why are you telling me all of this?"

"Because I want you to understand her. Whether you like it or not, the two of you come from radically different backgrounds. You had a more privileged upbringing then her, and it's obvious she's not the biggest fan of you. She had to live with a lot less then you probably ever had, and had to do and see a lot of things people her age shouldn't have had to do. Do you see what I'm saying, Dawn?"

He didn't need to go into detail to make me understand. Yes, I do. But why's she hate me so much? What'd I do to her?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I've been like a father to her these last few months. From what I guess, she keeps up her demeanor to cover up her internal issues."

"You mean like a coping mechanism?"

"Maybe. Look, Dawn. I'm glad you're here, as well as many of the people here. And...even though Zoe might not agree with what's happening, the best thing you can do right now is not to try and antagonize her. She's got some issues with authority - though that's a complicated story itself. She has a lot going on, and although you might not like her, you're going to have to work with her."

"I understand." I nodded. "Thanks for the advice."

He nodded. "Might want to get some rest for now. Been a long day for all of us."

It really has, hasn't it?

"Thanks."

Five Minutes Later

I walked off, looking for a place to sleep. Besides my armor, grenades, and gun, the one item I bought was the sleeping bag. A far cry from the sleeping bags my family used on our camping trips, these babies were made of the best insulation and quilts XCOM had to offer - it was reminiscent of the hotel bed I'd slept in last night, with less ratty and cleaned sheets, of course. It even had water in it that could be heated up or cooled down with a button located near the zipper. It was a cool obsidian black, oddly similar to a body bag.

Ha ha ha ha. Very funny, whoever-designed-this.

I found one of the abandoned subway cars, where someone'd rigged the lights to turn off and on with the push of a button. I walked in, finding my way near the front. I took off my armor piece-by-piece, the satisfying clicks and snaps of the armor coming apart. I laid out all the pieces on the seats across from me, lining them up like a showcase of artifacts at a museum.

Depending on how this war went, that'd probably happen to this armor one way or another. Maybe XCOM would let me keep it, maybe? Hanging it on the wall of my old bedroom would be nice, I guess. Something to rant about when I was old and retired, I guess.

Pssh! Kids these days! Back in my day, we didn't have your fancy antimatter launchers or black hole guns! When I joined up, we didn't have all these fancy-schmancy toys, we had two sticks and a rock for the whole damn team! And we had to share the rock!

Heh.

I reached into the sleeping bag, pulling out the clothes I'd snuck in. A pair of shorts, socks, pajama pants, spare underwear and bra, and a t-shirt. It was the Black Templar one I was wearing the day my life changed forever. It still fit me well, even though I was 'bigger' in some ways across my body.

I looked around with my eyes and telepathy, making sure no one could see. I walked into the driver's cabin and changed quickly. Flexing my toes on the floor, I put the 'dirty' clothes with my armor. While they had a rigged shower here, I'd prefer to use the 'alternate' way of cleaning myself, pulling out a spray canister.

While my augmentations rendered me immune to disease, viruses, and what had you, showering for the sake of being 'clean' (as technically well as washing my hands) wasn't something I had to do, but I and everyone else did it anyway because, for lack of a better term, old habits died hard. For operatives on long-term missions, R&D cooked up what was basically a 'shower in a bottle', a spray that you could spray yourself with, coating your body with anti-odor chemicals among other things to keep you squeaky clean.

One more tool to restore some normalcy to my situation.

I sprayed myself down, going under my clothes when I needed to, put it away, and slipped myself into the sleeping bag, resting my head on the complimentary pillow that came with it.

Helluva first day, huh? Arguments about imperialism, some good ol'-fashioned combat, and some philosophical debates.

All in a day's work for me.

Staring up at the ceiling of the train, I imagined the people that once used this every day. Going from home to work and so-and-so, having a normal life with normal issues and normal events. I should know- I used to be one of them.

I wondered what'd happened to them.

Hopefully some of them made it out.

My head sunk into the pillow a little more as I turned my head towards the window, slowly drifting off. The place was oddly quiet - guess I'd chosen a good spot to sleep. I didn't feel uncomfortable as I felt nervous. My 'encounters' with Violet today weren't how I'd expected this to go. I wasn't expecting her to be completely one hundred percent 'hey we just met but let's be besties', but the animosity she had towards us seemed a little over the top in my opinion.

Could I change her mind about us? Maybe. Could I get a good reputation with these people? Probably?

But what if I couldn't?

Well, they really didn't have much of a choice, did they?

I lightly shook my head, trying to focus on something else.

Friends. Think about friends.

I smiled, thinking about Caelior. Staying at his place had become a weekly occurrence for me, with the weekends usually being spent there, too. 'Drifting' with him, as we'd called it, was the highlight. Going so deep and intimately into someone's mind like that just had nothing to compare it to. The way you felt, having someone inside your head while also being in theirs- that 'other person' be an Ethereal at that was something else.

We'd make our small telepathic links those nights. It was fun - I sense him making a joke before he even said it, busting out in laughter as his purple head tilted, trying to figure out what the little human was doing. I'd show him how to dance to music, us coordinating on a thought-to-thought basis. He'd sense me thinking of a question and answer it before I even finished putting it together.

And then there was Mary.

I felt like I'd betrayed her by promising her that we'd talk on a constant basis, with my new promotion. I'd be away from XCOM for a while without a secure way to talk to her. Thankfully, XCOM had more than enough connections to keep track of her if I wanted to. She hadn't been in any serious combat yet, just patrolling the ADVENT-Collective border of occupied Canadian territory. We felt...distant from each other, and I felt like a bad person for not being able to protect her.

Some days I wished she could come with me, learn everything I had. She was a good Aegii, she'd do well. Couldn't see her being a Templar, though. Never was good at close-quarters fighting. I imagined her in her own Aurora armor. She'd probably make some dumb joke about having too many shields to manage or something or how the armor would make her look to small. Maybe she and Aegis might get along. She did, well, like him.

I still hadn't forgotten that cursed content under her bed. Damn you, lizard brain.

But a part of me liked to think that in another place, another time, maybe there was an alternate universe where she did come with me. I felt like I had to pay her back for leaving her. She was good. She wasn't like me, but I could see her potential. Sometimes I liked to close my eyes and imagine she was here in XCOM with right, right beside me, training, learning the things I did. I knew it wasn't real, but it had filled a hole in my heart that'd grown since I left the PRIESTs.

I'd felt like I'd lied to her. I feel like things weren't working between us. I wouldn't be able to talk to her for a long time while here, and using JULIAN to be 'me' and talk to her felt like a cheat. I missed the connection I'd had with her back in training. We'd more or less grown up together during those months of training. Talked about past relationships, talked about our families, dreams- everything friends did. She was the first person I'd show memories to via telepathy. We had a lot of psionic firsts together, and I couldn't just forget or ignore that.

I felt guilty.

I felt like I wasn't being a good friend. I felt like I couldn't really be there for her when she needed support. I felt like I'd abandoned her. I wanted to next next to her, protecting her like a big sister should've. It was a feeling that I'd only felt with one other person- Caelior.

The amount of jokes she would've made about that never would've ended.

And you know what?

I would've been totally fine with that as long as I wouldn't have been alone like this.

But I was alone

And for now, I would be XCOM's resident sole teenager.

But maybe, not forever.

Subway Tunnels, Buenos Aires, Argentina

8/30/17- 9:34 AM

"Everyone, listen up."

The psions were gathered in front of me and Tang, all five of them in total. There was Violet and Juana from last night's raid. If Violet (or Zoe- I used both interchangeably) has any animosity towards what happened last night, she wasn't showing it. There were two Aegii just like Tang, named Lorenzo and Marco respectively, both of them in their mid-to-late twenties. The fifth and final was Jairo, another telekine, the oldest out of the group in his mid-thirties. Besides Juana, who had experience in law enforcement, none of the others had anything close to military experience pre-war.

While they'd gotten something akin to that fighting the aliens here and now, they lacked proper psionic training.

Something we were going to fix.

"Although you've performed well so far in fighting the aliens, you've yet to receive proper PRIEST-standard training with your respective psionic aptitudes." Tang was older and more experienced than me, so while we'd both be training them, she'd be taking charge as the head teacher. Which, in turn, made me the teacher's assistant. Or pet. Whatever you called it.

"Although you do not have access to the same technology and resources we do, that doesn't mean you're without help. Dawn and I will be training you over the next several weeks. While Dawn is a telepath, she'll be helping you with focusing and concentration, while I'll be helping you out with how to properly fight and counteract an enemy psion, among other things. Everybody got that?"

A chorus of 'yeses' and 'sis' came from the small crowd.

"Alright." She turned to me. "Dawn, you're up."

I stepped up in front of her. "Alright. Since we're starting off with the basics, the most important thing for psions in combat to have is focus. Focus is the cornerstone of using your abilities at any time, combat or not. Tuning out sounds, background noise, or anything else applicable is important. The battlefield will never be completely silent. Ever. For our first exercise today, I'll be having you perform psionic attacks against those targets."

I pointed to the wall, where stacks of concrete, metal, and whatever we could find arranged into target look-alikes. "While you're doing that, I'll be projecting distracting noises into your minds that'll gradually increase every few seconds. Focus, defend your minds, and operate for as long as you can. I will also not be conducting anything harmful that would hurt you. Ready?"

They all nodded, turning and positioning themselves.

"Go!"

As they attacked their targets, my eyes glowed, delving into their minds. It was odd to go into a human psions' mind that was so unprotected. Granted, I'd only fought XCOM psions and not SAS psions, so in this case I had to lower the standards.

No matter. A psion was a psion.

I started out with a simple and familiar, yet annoying sound: a car alarm, also known as the bane of my high school homework and study sessions. The eo-eo of the sirens began to blare in their minds. Nothing about their behavior seemed to change yet. I did pick up some irritation from their minds, though.

Let's step it up a little.

The sirens began to increase with a thought. Juana's eyes twitched, baring her teeth for a second before she ripped the target's 'head' off. The others were beginning to get more irritated- Violet cursed under her breath. Lorenzo and Marco put their hands on their heads, stopping their attacks. Jario was ripping apart his target when he stopped his attack, gritting his teeth.

More.

The sirens grew louder, and I threw in an airplane engine just for kicks. Violet shrieked and pulled back, gripping her head. Lorzeno, Marco, and Jario stopped attacking as well, grimacing and looking like they were about to barf. Only Jario was continuing to use her psionics, albeit in pain.

Interesting. Out of all of them, Juana seemed the most resistant. Maybe due to her experience of working under fire? I remembered her telling me her district had a larger gang problem then others...hm. I'd have to ask more about that later. Being able to keep your cool in a firefight probably helped.

But I'd seen enough. I halted my 'attack.' "Alright, stop! Stop! That's good!"

The psions turned to me. "What the hell was the point of that?"

"Focusing, Violet. Your mind is a powerful weapon, but right now, it's got no guidance, like a car going 60 without a steering wheel. Concentrating your psionics is the key to mastering it on the battlefield. Mental imagery, meditation- these things are gonna improve you."

"And who taught you that?" Violet almost spat, rubbing her forehead.

"Aegis. Geist." I smirked. "Professionals. And if you're going to beat the Collective, professionalism is what we're going to do concerning your powers."

"Are you insisting we're not good at what we do?" As Violet finished her sentence, Juana tried to put a hand out in front of her. I motioned for her to stop.

"No. I'm not. But if you continue to act like this-" I gestured to her crossed arms. "I may call you that. Do you see the others complaining?"

No response. "Alright. Next up, I'm going to teach you how to do some meditation exercises. On the ground, people. Sit."

I sat on the ground cross-legged, just like Caelior. If I was in the Dreamscape, I'd do this in fatigues or a t-shirt and shorts. But, my armor would have to do. I noticed Tang also did, probably just to set an example. Like she was silently saying the kid knows her shit- do what she says.

"Cross-legged or sit on your legs. Both positions work."

Everyone did as I said, taking one of the two positions.

"Hands on your knees. Relax your bodies. If you have to breathe to relax, you can do that. Once you do, close your eyes."

As I did so, I felt their minds, ignoring Tang's. Most were somewhat calm, but Violet's had this aura of anger and frustration swirling around it, like a hurricane of pure emotional power.

"I'll be speaking to you in telepathy from here on out. Just giving y'all a heads up, alright?"

Alright.

I reached out to their minds. Okay everyone, let's get started. I want you to find something in your mind that you associate with your psionics. A memory, a picture, a color, a shape, anything.

I waited, observing them as they searched through their minds. I didn't pry, just 'feel'. It reminded me of seeing into Caelior's mind during our times together. Me trying to comprehend the vastly older and more power mind I was 'joining' with. Well, not joining like Avatar joining. I'd rather not be a mind slave to an Ethereal, thank you very much. If anything, what we did was more of a drifting kind of action. There was a connection, sure, but no one was influencing each other's actions. We just..drifted around.

Of course, there were limits.

Before we started doing it, we'd made a little contract of sorts of what to avoid. It was pretty simple. 1. Avoid memories associated with severe trauma that could trigger PTSD. 2. Avoid memories dealing with sex, sexual activities or you being in, well, 'physically compromising positions' as Carlior put it - the reasons for that explained themselves. 3. Don't intentionally trigger the aforementioned memories in someone's mind. 4. Only access such memories listed in 1 and 2 if verbal, recorded permission is given (without being psionically influenced, of course) so before mentally drifting with the person. It was a good system, and we'd drifted a lot without any breaches of these rules- accidental or purposeful.

And no, we hadn't done any numbers 4s yet.

Everyone find something?

The thoughts I picked up told me they all had.

Okay, here's what's going to happen. You're all going to focus on that thing and keep it in your mind for as long as you can. While you do that, I want you to open your eyes, stand up, and go back to your targets. Once you do, resume practicing with your powers on them, all while keeping said thing in your mind! Everybody got that? Good!

I opened my eyes, watching them go off to their targets and practice.

"You're not doing too bad," Tang said behind me. "Guess Aegis taught you well, huh?"

"Yeah. He taught you too right, you being an Aegis and all?"

"Well, yeah, just not as close and one-on-one like you." She shrugged. "But you're a special case."

"Heh. Yeah." I watched them train, tearin and chopping the targets apart. "You know...I'm glad we can do this, you know?"

"Hmm?"

"When I came, I was afraid some of the soldiers from countries mine weren't exactly friends with wouldn't like me."

She smirked. "And insult my Yankee friend? Ha!"

"Yeah. I just never thought I'd say I'd be working with a North Korean in my life...ever."

"And I never thought I would be working with a capitalist pig like you."

"Whatever you say…comrade."

"Ha!"

Thirty minutes later, and the psions finished up their training for the day, walking out of the room we'd set up and thanking both of us as they left. Violet was the first to leave, but not before nodding at me with a little smile.

Progress.

Tang had taken part in this, too. She'd used her shield to defend herself, moving them around like mobile targets as well for the psions to attack them. It was pretty creative of her.

"So, what's next?" I said to my new North Korean friend.

"I say we get some lunch." She patted me on the back. "Hey, you deserve it. You make a good teacher."

I smiled. "Thanks, Tang. Let's-"

"Guys!"

We turned around. Sofea ran through the room's entrance, helmet off, a wild smile on her face. She was holding her phone in her left hand, which showed a picture of Ankara highlighted.

Ankara? Isn't that where Sierra was?

"You guys have to see this shit."

A/N: Recently, Xabiar has announced that there are 9 chapters and an epilogue planned for Advent Directive, before moving on to a fourth story continuing its plot. I will be continuing New Blood as is for now, and do not plan to split New Blood into another story anytime soon. The only changes that I plan to implement are in the description to say that this story is a canon companion/spin-off story to both Advent Directive and whatever name Xabiar chooses for his fourth story in his XCOM saga.

To be continued in:

The Last Sicario