Training Room

Praesidium

I found Carmelita in the training area (where else?), fighting one of the new training mechs. A revamped MEC made by JULIAN, it was essentially a smarter metal dummy that could use mock weapons and shields.

I walked in on her just as she knocked one down and put a sword towards its neck, its sensor detecting the sword and turning off, slumping to the floor.

"Carmelita?" I asked somewhat nervously, as the yellow smiley face (god, that thing was creepy) turned towards me, the sword turning off.

"Dawn." She said, noticing the Potter-esque scar on my neck I decided to keep. "You're up and moving again. Are you feeling better?"

I fought the urge to raise an eyebrow. In the few times we interacted, she'd never spoken to me like that.

"Uh, yeah." My voice was still not what it used to be - hoarse and still quiet - but it was getting better. "I'm sorry I didn't have a chance earlier, but I wanted to say thank you for saving me. I, uh, I know that we didn't exactly start off on the best of terms, but I just wanted to say thanks. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"No, you're not." She put her sword down, squirting a bottle of water on her face. "You came for something?"

"Yeah." I said, shifting my feet. "I know that we didn't exactly get off on the best of terms, but after you saved me…well, I never really thanked you. So, yeah."

Awkward.

"What?" She lightly scoffed. "You think that because you and I weren't friends that I wouldn't save you from that masked freak?"

"Uh, n-no, I just-well, I didn't really, I mean-"

She could tell I was nervous. Not that I was doing a great job at hiding it. "I-I know you've been doing this for a long time. Like, a really, really long time. I just-after our first meeting, I felt a bit motivated to do better. I mean, you were a black ops soldier who'd been here longer than a lot of us."

Don't mention her dead boyfriend, don't mention her dead boyfriend.

"And you thought I hated you?" She took another drink. "And that I'd look down on you for that?"

Crap.

I was really not doing a great job of handling this.

"Look." She said, putting her water bottle down. "I'm not going to hold it against you. We were all new once. We all encountered that one ass who thought we were fresh meat. We got over it. Was I a little harsh? Maybe."

"I mean, I didn't really like what you said, but I can see where you were coming from. If I were a super-experienced soldier with lots of skill like you who worked extremely hard to get here, and then some kid like me walks into your house with far less effort to get here then you did, I just didn't want to make it feel like we had any bad blood."

She raised an eyebrow. "I didn't hate you, if you wanted to know. Just wanted to give you a reality check, that's all. I'm not looking to be a bad guy or your enemy." She paused. "Is that why you came here?"

"Um…maybe?"

She shook her head. "I appreciate the thought, but I think we're already reconciled." She noticed the look on my face. "I get that this is all new to you, so let me give you some advice, okay?"

"Okay."

She sighed. "Making friends here is a good thing, but don't let it bite you in the ass. Relationships have consequences here, as I'm sure you know?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"I know you have a lot of friends here- some you care for more than others. I get that. When I came here, I formed…friends. Some attachments. Some that I thought would last forever. In a way, they did, but they were lost."

I didn't say a word, just standing there aptly while she spoke.

"It changes you. Seeing someone you care for so much just…" She trailed off. "Die in front of you like that so brutally. It changes you."

"Carmelita, I know people are going to die-"

"Everyone knows, but you never understand until it happens," she interrupted. "If you're lucky, you won't. It is still something you need to think about, especially if they are in as much danger as you are."

"Are you-"

"Yes." She said with a straight face. "I'm talking about him." She paused. "I don't know the Ethereal, and I don't care to, but he means something to you, and one of his profile is one who will be targeted. Understand that no one is invincible, no one has their story guaranteed. It may be me, or you, or the Commander, or the Imperator. Not everyone can have a happy ending, and you must prepare for that reality."

"But-"

"I know the battle can be alluring. Something that can also be an outlet, if it reaches a point of ease," she continued. "But it is not something you are supposed to enjoy. Do you know how I earned my reputation here?"

I just blinked.

She tapped her head. "Because that was something I embraced. Anger and fury are only useful if you commit them to your core, because if you don't, you break down because it is not a natural state. It takes the instinctual edge off of killing." She snorted. "It can turn innocuous symbols into something terrifying. Such as a smiley face. It unsettled people because they know its use is unnatural, and thus they fear it, and in so doing, fear me."

"And you don't want me to be that?"

She shrugged. "I'm saying you can't be like me. Not yet. People like me are not normal, we are not fine. People like me, or anyone else you see who is unnaturally skilled or minimally affected by death and war, we did not get there by choice. We lost something along the way, and we did not break. All I will say is that it is not something I would recommend." She went silent off as she hit the button on the MEC again, the robot beeping as it powered up.

"Just understand what you are part of, and what you may suffer because of it." She put her helmet back on. "You're welcome, Dawn. Thank you for listening."

I walked off with the sound of metals clashing behind me with my mind muddled.

Swimming Pool

Praesidium

Fiona handed me a drink, shifting as most of her body was submerged in XCOM's Olympic-sized swimming pool, wearing swimwear like me. I didn't even know she owned a bikini - it just wasn't something I'd ever imagined her wearing.

"Thanks for inviting me, Fiona." I said, taking a drink. "We haven't spent time together in a while."

"Though you could use the girl time." She smirked. "And thought I'd check in on you."

"I appreciate the thought. Good to know T'Leth's finest is keeping an eye on me."

She brushed her ash-colored hair back, letting me get a better look at her scar. "Perhaps not T'Leth's finest. But I am pretty good."

"I think nearly killing Creed's psycho ex solo counts for more than pretty good."

"Don't let him hear you say that.. But hey." She reassuringly put a hand on my shoulder. I know the last mission didn't go so well, but you should feel proud of yourself. You really showed off your best in Libya. Taking down that Lesser Hive Commander - and you got yourself a Medal of Honor!"

"Yeah." I sighed. She frowned.

"Should I have not brought that up?"

"No. It's not your fault. Just…" I trailed off. "I'm on some meds now, and I just never really imagined myself doing that. I've taken meds before when I was sick, of course, but not like this."

"Think you're becoming dependent on them?"

"No. It just feels strange. When I saw my uncle taking pills, I'd always think I wouldn't be like that, you know? And I'm not. Not by a long shot. But I just feel conflicted, you know?"

FIona nodded, floating closer to me. "Yeah, I understand that. A bit more than you'd think, but that's a story for another time. The point being that I know how you feel."

"And what did you do?"

She pursed her lips. "I listened to a good friend, and left."

The two of us sat there awkwardly for a minute, not saying anything.

Did I push too far?

I didn't say anything I shouldn't have, right?

"Let's do some swimming, get our minds off of all of this. Try to catch up, mortal." She winked, put the drink down, and took off. I went after her, surprised by her speed.

"Where'd you learn to swim like that?"

"My dad taught me."

I paddled, splashing my face with water as she chuckled at me desperately trying to outdo an Agent in the pool, her slowly drifting away as I did my best to catch up.

"Really?"

"Oh yes, he loved the outdoors. Hiking, hunting - things like that."

"Oh yeah?"

She shrugged. "You'd be surprised. Or not, if you saw him." She shook her head. " I have an idea." She piped up. "To get your mind off this, how about this."

"Shoot."

"You ask me a question, and I answer it. Should give you something to think about. After all, I didn't call you here to make you sad."

"What kind of question?" I raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "I'm not gonna hear your deepest, darkest secrets, am I?"

"Of course not. Just something to ping your curiosity. Something to think about."

"Alright."

"I can sense you're nervous. If you ask, and it's not something I want to answer, I'll tell you, okay? No hard feelings."

"Got it." I thought for a minute.

What should I ask?

Hmm.

"Can I have a demonstration of that teleporting thing you do? The last time we did that, I was bleeding from every part of my body."

"Of course."

She reached out and touched my hand gingerly, her thumb rubbing my palm. Not a moment later, green energy enveloped my body. I yelped as everything went white, and then I...vanished.

It was brief, but as I faded away, I felt a quick bite of a freezing cold.

Huh.

As quickly as I disappeared, I reappeared, my bikini-clad rear end hitting the mattress of a bed.

"Fiona?" I looked around, water dripping. This wasn't the Praesidium…

I looked at the room, noticing the bookshelf, the empty desk, the window outside giving me a view onto a busy street. The bed had no sheets or blankets on it, with a thin line of dust on top. The lamp by the bed was off, the fan on the ceiling idly still.

Wait…

Is this my house?

It is!

This is my old bedroom!

Fiona popped up next to me, giving me a toothy smile and waving before she touched my shoulder, and another green flash later, we were back in the pool.

"What the hell was that?"

She smiled. "You wanted a demonstration, didn't you?"

"I-I was at my house!" I almost yelped. "I haven't been there since-"

"Too much whiplash for you?" She asked.

"N-no. No. I just didn't think you'd send me there."

She smiled, hooking onto the pool's edge with her elbows, her toes sticking up out of the water. "Where'd you think I'd send you?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. Another planet or something?"

"That's for adults only." She said in a singsong tone, elbowing me. "Just kidding."

I rolled my eyes. "You ever do that for Kunio?"

"When I pulled him out of the Arctic."

Oh. Oh no.

She noticed my widened eyes. "Yeah. Wasn't pretty." She mumbled something under her breath.

"How's he doing by the way?" I said, doing my best to change the subject. "Y'know, as a student."

"He's good - very good. Reminds me of, well, myself a little bit while I was younger. Speaking of which , I got something I want to ask you."

"Sure."

"You're alright after what happened in Alaska, right?"

"Mostly." I traced the scar on my neck.

"Just wanted to check, I've found that helps," she said. "You kind of remind me of myself when I was younger. The situation, at least." She wagged a few fingers. "Responsibilities and things you could do before you were ready. Not easy, but I learned some important things."

"Was it…bad?" I didn't know which word to say. She'd been through something, all right, but what it exactly was, was... well, she was being very secretive about it.

My gut told me I couldn't blame her, though I had no idea why.

"Not always," she smiled. "Some bad, some terrible, but some wonderful. That's how life is, as it turns out. Still, some things you carry, which all of us do, including you."

She paused. "I understand you're curious, Dawn. I get it. When I was your age, I asked a lot of questions. I can tell."

"But?"

She sighed. "I understand me and the other T'Leth agents provoke a lot of thought, but going forward, I'd appreciate it if you were a bit more finite with your questions."

I raised an eyebrow. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No. But I don't really like talking all that much about my personal life, alright? It's something I like to forget about. You can ask me questions about some thing- just ask beforehand so I can give my approval - but I figured one day you might ask about it."

"I'm not going to if you don't want me. I respect your privacy."

She nodded. "Thanks. I appreciate that. It's not that we can't hang out and talk about things. There's just some topics I'd like to stay buried."

I nodded. "I understand."

She nodded, holding out a hand and winking. "Now, do you have any other travel requests?"

Briefing Room

Praesidium

I was used to sitting in the regular briefing room as usual, but sitting in a room in XCOM's Intelligence wing was new.

Granted, I didn't expect any radical changes about the place, but something felt different. XCOM - the part that I was used to - felt more lively, more active, busier. Here, there were far less people walking around.

A little creepy, even.

Or maybe I felt a little creepy that an ex-Triad boss and the Commander were both here, along with some XCOM agent named Gabriel. If he had a last name, he didn't bring it up. I vaguely recalled him from the wedding, though didn't remember anything else about him.

I hadn't met Zhang before, much less had a conversation with him. He had a similar 'feel' as the Commander; somewhat cold, rough, with an intimidating persona and look. He had a scar or two on his face, along with a resting don't mess with me look. He had a passive look in his eyes that said I can ruin your life in less than a day as well, and his overall demeanor turned me off even further.

Then again, I suppose if one had to move up that far in the Triad, you had to perform some less-than-moral actions. Zhang made Powell, and even Stein, look like little puppies in comparison - we all could only guess what shady actions he took behind the scenes.

He had made countless people and even organizations disappear; far-right militias in the US who'd hidden out after ADVENT came in and planned to cause mass chaos; entire lineages of organized crime from Italy to Japan; human supremacist groups planning to use stolen chemical weapons on alien defectors; 'rogue' aliens who planned to detonate Blaster Bombs in populated centers; hell, he'd even helped stop a plot by several CCP generals (back when there was a CCP) to stage an coup to 'protect' China from ADVENT.

Simply put, you did not fuck with this guy.

Not even one bit.

"Welcome, everyone." The Commander said to our little group, all in chairs like a classroom. "As you all know, recently the Oversight Division has paused the current ADVENT offensive in Africa against the SAS. Although the SAS suffered a heavy loss at Zuwara-"

Some of the other soldiers shot me a look.

"They have been taking advantage of this pause in the war and attempting to rapidly modernize and expand. Hosmunt Kaan, in particular, has been an incredibly useful asset for Betos and her regime. He is, by far, their most experienced and intelligent statesman."

A group of countries in Africa were hightled on the holographic screen in front of us. "The countries you see highlighted here have recently been approached by the SAS's new diplomatic corps, run by Kaan. ADVENT's highly destructive actions during Scipio have resulted in many of the countries' leadership seeing the SAS as a more beneficial partner, and as a result have been engaging in diplomacy with the SAS, some with the intent to join."

"That's where you all come in." Zhang said. "Agent Gabriel here and I have been creating a plan that will not only cut off these nations from the SAS, but will permanently cripple the SAS' diplomatic capability and ruin their image. Gabriel, if you will?"

The agent stepped up, with a small smile on his face. "Thank you, Zhang. It's been a pleasure. Now," He clapped his hands. "While the SAS's plans for expansion are, on paper, good, there are many flaws, one in particular."

With another click of a button, the screen changed to a picture of Kaan at a political rally.

"Hosmunt Kaan. Former President of Turkey and former politician looking for a bid at more power. A man of ambition, one might call him," he shook his head. "However, the man is extremely capable at doing his job. Betos is a poor statesman, and her incompetence drove Egypt and several other countries into ADVENT. She is a soldier, not a politician - and it shows."

He lifted a finger. "A deficiency that she has seen to correct with the elevation of Kaan. He is, for all intents and purposes, the second-most important Human in the SAS, and thus a single point of failure for their overarching diplomatic mission. Without Kaan, the SAS would regress to an inefficient state plagued by inefficiencies, diplomatic blunders, and an unjustified minority rule. Kaan has only just begun to address these issues - and thus much depends upon his continued safety."

"While he has recruited other individuals under him, he is the key. And if we remove him…" He trailed off knowingly. "It falls apart. Returned to the leadership style of Betos, they will be unable to effectively capitalize on any mistakes ADVENT makes."

"And lead them right into our hands." Zhang finished. "Operation Scimitar will run in two phases, purported by you, Cavalier Team."

The screen flickered again, zooming in on the southern portion of Chad. "The first phase will have two parts." The screen highlighted what looked like several rivers and lakes in the surrounding region, marked in green. "ADVENT's usage of chemical weapons during Scipio have resulted in massive damage to the environment and wildlife, in particular the rivers. As a result, nearby non-aligned countries have been running into difficulties providing clean and safe water to their people."

The Commander stepped in. "What you're looking at is a supply depot for the SAS. Usually, this wouldn't be on our hit list, but this one in particular is important to Scimitar. This depot contains huge amounts of fresh water from SAS and Collective donations. Their plan is to shuffle these tanks of water through Gateways and 'donate' these to non-aligned military bases as a token of goodwill."

Rafal Rothenstein, a sniper I'd previously worked with in South America, spoke up. "And you want us to destroy these shipments?"

"No." Zhang replied. "Vahlen has developed a form of Chryssalid eggs that can be implanted in food or drink. These are microscopic organisms that are incredibly hard to detect. Your mission will be to infiltrate this depot and contaminate the supply shipments with the eggs. Once done, a Skyranger will exfiltrate you."

"And the next part?" Anastasiya Shevchenko, yet another person I'd worked with in South America, asked.

"This part is a little more interesting." Gabriel had a curiously amused tone. "There's a Zararch installation within SAS territory we want you to investigate. Again, there are quite a few Zararch personnel and bases within the SAS, so like the depot, at first glance, this would not seem out of the ordinary. However…" He trailed off, putting his hands behind his back. "This one in particular is, shall we say, unique."

I saw Zhang roll his eyes. I guess this Gabriel dude had a taste for a little flair in his conversation. Compared to the somewhat monotone, well, tone of conversations the Commander and other higher-ups here, this was more casual, if not a bit funny.

I kinda liked this guy.

"This Zararch base in particular has jamming towers around it that block SAS scanning equipment. It's virtually invisible to them, and from what we know, Betos and the SAS higher-ups have no idea that it exists. That's why we're sending you all in. To see if there's any dirt they have on Betos and her cronies, or anything in general we can use against them."

"There's also a technological factor to this." The Commander stepped in. "There's advanced technology the Zararch uses to hide itself. Most notably is Andromedon jamming tech that was used by Patricia during her attack on the Praesidium. If possible, scavenge the tech, and take whatever you can with you. However, the main priority is using JULIAN to hack into the computers there and find anything possible. After that, you will once again be extracted and return here while we nail down the exact details of Phase Two."

"Is he even capable of infiltrating software like that?" Evelyn Knight, a nanokine, asked.

"I can concurrently defend against over one thousand cyberattacks from inept Vitakarians, slightly more respectable Andromedons, and a millenia-old Ethereal who lives like a cyberpunk wet dream. Yes, I can 'infiltrate' this piece of software that was probably some poor student's semester project."

Heh.

Gabriel smiled. "Any other questions?"

I raised my hand. "What about Phase Two?"

"Simple. We kill Kaan and cut the head off of the SAS's governmental and diplomatic procedures."

"And how do we go about doing that?"

"Unfortunately, the exact details of that are classified right now, Miss Conley. We are still figuring out the exact details of it. As such, Phase Two will not be revealed until things are finalized."

"Alright then."

"Any other questions?"

No one answered.

"Very well then. You're all dismissed. Report to the Hangar within two hours. Your Skyranger pilot's going to be Big Sky for this mission. You'll be hitting these two installations back-to-back, so expect the overall operation to go for several hours. You'll receive more intelligence shortly."

As we all got out of our seats and started to channel out, the Commander stopped me.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm alright, sir."

"I appreciate your dedication, Dawn. Before you go, there's two things I wanted to mention."

"Yes?"

"The first is that I have a present of sorts for you." He gave a little smile. "It's waiting in your locker in the armory."

It took a few seconds for my neurons to snap and put together what he meant. "You mean-"

"Yes." He nodded. "Congratulations. You've got the first and only armor set so far. Enjoy it."

"You spoiling me for Christmas, sir?"

He just winked at me. "Now, for the second topic, I looked over your file, the one Bronis forwarded to me."

"Oh?"

"I thought it was interesting. It needs a bit of work, but nothing that can't be fixed with some proper oversight. I'd like to say more, but you have a mission to go on. Let's have a meeting when you get back; there are some things we need to discuss."

"Sir, you're not…angry or anything, right?"

"No. Just curious about a few of the ideas you brought up. Anyway, I won't keep you busy, Dawn. Good luck."

I walked out of the room with more questions than answers.

Chad, Africa

The Skyranger lifted off into the sky, leaving our team alone, surrounded by kicked-up dust.

"Everyone ready?" Rafal, our Squad Overseer for this mission, said over said over the comms. A chorus of affirmatives came in over the radio. "Copy. Let's move out. The depot itself is a few miles away, so be on the lookout for any patrols.

He took point, with the rest of us following. Knight, the only other psion on the team, was in front of me, the two of us at the back of the little line as we moved through the desert.

"Hey, you're the biopath, right?"

"Yep." Her thick Australian accent made me almost snort, like her pronouncing right roight.

She chuckled a little. "Is this the setup to a joke or something? A nanokine and biopath walk into a bar or something?"

"Maybe. I'm sure you'll think of something." I said. "What do you do, anyway? Do you shoot lightning or something?"

"Hell no. Though I'd trade for that in a second. No, I just weaken the molecular bonds inside things. You want someone's armor down? Done. You want me to turn someone's armor into dust? Can do."

"Nice. You been on a mission before?"

"Oh yeah. I was on that Mars mission to the Observation Station. Bloody mess that was."

"Wait, that was the one with the Overmind, right?"

I saw her shiver a little. "Yep. Wasn't pretty. Old fucker gave me the headache of a lifetime from that mission."

"Sorry if I-"

"Nah. You're good, kid."

"So..what's it like?" I asked. "Messing with molecules like that?"

She shrugged. "I mean, how do you do biopathy? Isn't it pretty much like that, but for living things?"

"I just imagine cells and break 'em apart. I think of Legos, actually. You know, the Danish toy?"

"Oh, those? My son adores those things. I think of those sometimes, too. I actually used to be a construction worker before this. I think of steel beams and stuff like that."

"Construction worker?"

"I'll tell you later. Focus on the mission, eh?"

As we got closer and closer to our target, I couldn't help but look at the sun, the orange-color star setting over the savannah, the trees and bushes being illuminated by the light. It looked beautiful, like something out of a painting. Flocks of birds flew about in the distance, squawking and chirping away.

Gorgeous.

I heard nothing but nature - be it a bit of wind, animals, or my boots crunching the grass and soil underfoot.

Kinda made you forget that there was a war going on in the first place.

The radio whined as Rafal's voice came on. "We're within distance of the depot. Make sure your cartridges are secure."

We all took a knee, keeping one eye on our motion trackers while we checked our little delivery packages of death. They didn't look menacing at all - blue canisters the size of a can of beans you'd find at the store, but with no markings on them and completely smooth. It was hard to believe that inside thousands of little chryssalid eggs sat in a gel that would break up inside the water, poisoning it and killing whoever drank it with a Chyrssalid bursting out of them, chestburster-style.

"Remember, we have to make the shipments look completely undisturbed. That means no killing unless we have to." He looked around and behind him. "Dawn, I understand you have the new Dominator armor on you?"

"Yeah."

"You can use it to mess with the personnel's mind, right?"

I nodded. "I think I have to get closer for the aura to work right. Security camera might see me, though."

"We already-"

"Already hacked just for you, humans." JULIAN's voice rang through my helmet. "Clippy could do a better job with cybersecurity than these inept morons. I have control of all security systems and cameras. I am currently giving the underpaid Cheeto addict watching the cameras a loop of the outside. You are free to engage at your pleasure."

I blinked. "Did he seriously mention-"

"Yes." I could almost see Rafal's eyes rolling through his helmet. "He brought up that of all things. Let's move. Dawn, you're up!"

I followed Rafal over a hill, seeing the depot through my rifle's scope. It didn't look impressive by any means. A dirt road leading up a fenced-off gate, a couple of armed guards posted at the front, a white wall surrounding the whole place with signs in several African dialects, probably saying to keep out or something.

I looked up at the two turrets at the top of the gate, which were currently moving up and down, probably to the tune of some song.

Never change, will you?

"Dawn, you're up." Rafal ordered.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Use your aura to make their minds malleable. Have them be amicable to us at best, but have 'em help us if they can."

I nodded. "Can do, boss."

I closed my eyes, focusing my aura on the couple dozen minds at the depot. Nothing special, thank god. No psions or aliens at all. A bored captain, a medic, some drivers, the rest of them sitting around and playing cards, the smell of cigarette smoke reaching my helmet's sensors.

"No psions or aliens, sir. If anything, these guys are a bunch of SAS rent-a-cops."

He nodded, and with a thought, I reached all of their minds, subtly bending them to my will. It was odd how a few months ago I could barely control five minds. Now here I was, making dozens of people do my bidding. It was almost surreal how I managed to do that, just shrugging off the power that I could do as something I did everyday.

Some days it almost made me feel numb to it.

A few seconds later, the guards walked over to the gate and opened it for us, waving our gang in.

"I need access to the water." I spoke slowly, hoping that he could understand my English. "We're inspectors. There was an issue with your filtration systems."

"An issue?" He responded with his thick accent. "Ah, the water pumps. I believe there was a leaking system on one of the pumping systems. Follow me, please."

It was almost hilarious how the minds of people I took over changed themselves to adapt to my psionic influence. Be it excuses, justifications for my lies, or the seemingly random actions they took. It almost made me laugh as to how ridiculous it could all be when psionics came into the game. Anastasiya cocked her head with confusion at the bullshit the guard just spouted.

"Psions." She shook her head as we followed the guard through two doors until we reached a large concrete lot filled with water canisters, several dozen of them.

"Here's the water." The guard said. "Now what did you say the problem was?"

"Uh…leaking." I said. "Something in the water's corrosive, so we brought along some chemicals to fix that. Don't worry, it's perfectly safe for humans to consume, it dissolves right in the water."

"If you don't mind." Evelyn stepped in. "Leave us, please. We need to work at this alone."

"You sure you don't need our engineers? I can get my commanding officer to officially-"

'We're sure." Rafal said.

"Alright then." The guard gave a little wave and walked off.

"Well that was creepy." Evelyn said with a slightly nervous voice. "Are you sure they're going to let us slide?"

"Aside from Mr. Lackey there that just walked away, the rest of them are more concerned with a very exciting and thrilling game of Texas Hold 'Em." I grinned under my helmet.

Ayah Srour and Cataldo Deramo, our team's Templar and Gunner respectively, looked around at the empty guard posts surrounding the lot. "JULIAN, you sure no one on the other side is seeing this?" Deramo's Italian accent rang through our helmets.

"You have my assurance."

"Well then, let's not delay." Rafal said. "Let's get moving. Remember, one canister per container. Let's get moving."

We all split up, our HUDs directing us to the individual containers. All of them were highlighted, save for one group.

"Uh, Rafal... I'm not seeing the Ethiopian containers highlighted. Is that a mistake or something?"

He shook his head. "No. Leave the Ethiopian contains untainted. Commander's orders."

"Why's that?" Anastasiya inquired.

Rafal shrugged. "Commander's orders. Beats me."

Huh.

"Get moving, people."

I walked off, going to the containers marked Zambia and Tanzania. I took a knee, pulling out one of the containers and opening a valve. With a click, the Chryssalid can opened. I look inside, seeing a clear-white gel filling it. Inside were hundreds if not thousands of eggs, lying there, waiting to get inside someone's stomach, and then Vahlen's work would do the rest.

This is what it's come to, huh?

I'm not just outright killing people with guns or psionics anymore. Now I'm just outright poisoning them.

Are these soldiers who aren't even in the SAS - are they really a threat to us?

Are they?

Was the Commander banking on my hatred towards the SAS to do this?

As I stared inside the pipe that I was supposed to dump painful, excruciating death into, I thought back to what he said.

How many lives can be saved, and how many must be sacrificed to save more.

But they will be inheriting a country which distrusts them.

Distrusts.

I turned the case in my hand, thinking back to Qasira.

Her family dead, the restaurant destroyed.

She tried to kill herself.

She tried to shoot herself in the head, because of them?

Don't you remember?

You gave up your eye to save her life.

Because of them.

Because of the monsters.

Monsters.

They can't touch her anymore.

They can't hurt her anymore.

"Monsters." I said in a low voice.

With a scowl on my face, I shoved the eggs into the container, hearing the slop leave the can and plop into the water.

For you, Qasira.

For what they did to you.

I screwed the hole shut. Then I walked over to the next one, repeating the process.

Click. Pump. Screw. Move. Click Pump. Screw. Move.

Lives be damned.

Soldiers be damned.

The SAS be damned.

Just like Damascus huh, Commander?

I knew that every little vial led to more death. More families with no mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers.

All for the good of…

Forget it.

As I was sealing the cap on the fourth canister, Evelyn walked up to me.

"You good?"

"Yeah." I said. "Just finishing up my fourth."

"Alright. Everyone else is almost done. Gotta hurry up, remember? We have another base to hit."

I nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I'm almost finished."

"How many do you have left?"

"One."

"Rafal says we have about ten minutes left before we have to hit that Zararch base. Might want to pick up the pace."

"Got it."

As she walked away,I moved on to the last container, holding the silver vial in one hand as I unscrewed the cap. I moved to jam the vial into the opening, but I stopped short of inserting it as I looked up, seeing one of the brainwashed guards blankly staring at the sky, blatantly ignorant of our sabotage.

Do it for her, the voice in the back of my head said. Do it for her.

Nothing like it can happen again.

I grit my teeth, pushing aside my inner thoughts about Chryssalids splitting apart families like divorce papers as I inserted the last vial into the water container, watching the gel seep into the hole.

Last one.

I finished up, putting the vial away as I linked up with the rest of my team.

"Everyone get their containers filled?"

We all nodded in response.

"Dawn, can you change the soldiers' minds again?"

"Of course. You want me to wipe 'em?"

"Just have them forget about us."

I nodded. I closed my eyes again, the soldiers all simultaneously standing at attention. Their eyes went hazy as I went through their heads, giving one final order.

Forget the events the moment we arrived. Nothing has happened. The water is fine, you are fine, everything is fine. You are all perfectly competent individuals with no chance of infiltration. All guards in the SAS should be like you.

Heh. That should work.

I turned to Rafal, nodding. "It's done. We should probably get out of here."

"Agreed. Let's move, everyone. Big Sky can't wait forever."

Near Hidden Zararch Base

Africa

The Skyranger's engines rumbled in the background as a holographic map of the Zararch's hideout glowed in the middle on the two rows of seats, all of our eyes on it, even as we sat.

"Good work on the water depot, everyone. However, we're far from done. Compared to the previous bases' security, the Zararch, as they usually do, are taking things more seriously. They've got significantly more security, including anti-aircraft systems, turrets, and various jamming towers. While we could attempt a psionic sabotage last time, our detection is too likely. So, we're going to be going for the typical frontal assault. That's where Big Sky comes in."

"I hear you." The pilots' voice came on through the intercom. "Like all Skyrangers, this vehicle's equipped with weapons for self-defense, and if necessary, air support. In this case, I can assist you in getting in utilizing some elerium-tipped warheads straight from the eggheads back in engineering. This Skyranger's systems are sufficiently equipped with scrambling technology to avoid this exact situation. However, I can't stay in the air for long, so you'll have to deal with the radio dark zone until you disable it."

"And you're sure you can avoid their triple-a's?"

"I can. However, I can't be your eyes in the sky forever."

"Understood." Rafal turned back to us. "We're going for a shock-and-awe strategy here. Big here's gonna fly low on the ground to get as close as possible. We'll jump, he'll release his missiles, and then we go in and take care of the dirty work."

"And the databases?" Evelyn asked.

"They're located inside of an underground section of the base. We go down, hack into it, and protect our resident AI while he finds anything we can use against the SAS and Collective."

"What kind of personnel can we expect?" I asked.

"Mostly modified Zararch units as expected, with some Custodians and an Oyariah."

"Just one?" I asked.

"Yeah. It's strange. Only one. Not sure why."

"What else?" Ayah asked.

"That's pretty much it. Big Sky shoots his missiles, we jump, breach-and-clear, then get into the bunker."

"How high of a jump are we talking?"

"A couple dozen meters. Our armor will take care of the rest."

"You sure?" I asked, a little nervous.

"It'll be okay, Dawn. Our armor can take a lot worse."

"If you say so."

He nodded. "No other questions? Alright. We've got 20 minutes before the Skyranger reaches our target. Ready up people. This might be a bit messy."

The back of the Skyranger opened, the wind howling and the Skyranger's engines roaring as we skated dangerously close to the ground. I held on to my seat, my magnetic grips on my suit doing their best to keep me standing considering I was at the front of the line.

"Ready?" Rafal yelled.

"Not really?"

He ignored me. "Big Sky, countdown!"

"Acknowledged. Ready in five…"

"Four….three…"

"Two…one…"

"Drop!" Rafal yelled.

I cursed under my breath, and leaped out of the speeding Skyranger, heading face-first towards the ground, hands and feet out. I hit the ground a few seconds later with an oof, my limbs feeling stunned as I kicked up a huge cloud of sand, rolling over onto my side as I held my leg.

"Ugh…."

I looked up at the base in the distance, seeing Big Sky dodge laser and plasma, two rockets shooting from its underside and arching over the wall surrounding it, two large explosions shaking the dirt around me as plumes of fire and smoke engulfed the facility.

"Targets eliminated, Overseer. Rest is up to you now."

I heard Rafal groan. "Got it, Sky. Ugh." He muttered something in Hebrew. "Everyone okay?"

"Fine."

"Alright.

"I'm okay."

I groaned. "Am I the only one in pain here?"

"Aww. Does the kiddo need a band-aid?"

I rolled my eyes, holding back a chuckle.. "Shut up."

I stood up, my limbs still feeling a little numb as I jogged with an increasing pace towards the burning facility, the rest of the team forming up in a V-shaped formation.

"Weapons and abilities green. Fire at will!"

Evelyn raised her hands, and with a pull of her hands and a yell, she tore the doors off the front, sending them flying into the guards, the huge metal gates crushing several Vitakara with a mix of surprised yelps.

"Move!" Rafal yelled. "Let's go!"

Ayah was the first inside, as she used her genetic augmentations to launch herself into the crowd of enemies, flying over us as she landed right in the middle of a group of Custodians. She slammed the business end of her battle-axe into the head of one, sending sparks and circuits flying as she drew her Alloy Cannon and destroyed the heads of another.

Cataldo opened up with his plasma cannon, stepping behind her and slicing through the Oyariah's arm with a hail of green energy. It roared, picking up its hammer and charging Cataldo, seemingly ignoring its missing arm.

But there was something about this Oyariah that put me off - it looked different. This one had a blood-red cloak with gold lining, with more ornate armor. He had a series of gold and silver curves on his helmet, with red and blue markings on its armor, which looked somewhat thicker.

The hell?

"Look out!" I yelled as the hulking warrior rose up its hammer, intending to crush our gunner. I threw out a hand, a wave of telepathic energy surging through the crowds of aliens around us, the air shimmering purple. The enemies froze, the charging Oyariah in particular falling over. "Take 'em out! They're stunned!"

But the Oyariah reacted in a way I'd never seen one before. He was stunned, yeah, but unlike the others, they seemed even angrier. As Ayah ran up to stab him in the face, he reached out and grabbed her.

"Ayah!" I reached out with my mind, slamming into the Oyariah's frenzied mind. As she yelled and stabbed into his armored wrist, I paused as I raised an eyebrow at how resistant his mind seemed. Whatever had happened, he'd undergone some serious conditioning.

His mind felt fuzzy; I was focused on making sure Ayah didn't get squished, but I did pick up on a few things.

Fectorian.

Ravager.

Battlemaster.

XCOM.

Kill XCOM.

Ravager's Hand.

I slammed through his mind, the conditioning proving a bit resistant, as he threw Ayah into a wall with a thud, leaving a crack in it as she slumped to the ground.

"Fuck!" Rafal yelled, putting several plasma shots into his torso. Ayah was still alive- for now, but it looked like that hit had done some damage, but he seemed to mostly shrug it off as she rolled over, holding her back in agony.

What was up with this guy?

I focused my anger on his mind, the mental stubbornness slightly reminding me of the Lesser Hive Commander. Whoever conditioned him was good - but not that good.

I felt his fanatic rage sputter and break as I opened the mental floodgates, enveloping his mind and turning his brain to literal mush. His body went limp, the hammer falling out of his good hand.

The freeze command fizzled out a few seconds later, but that was all the time we needed. I turned various alien squads against the plasma turrets surrounding the bunker, melting them with plasma fire and grenades while said turrets sliced through whole groups of soldiers. I ran over to Ayah, providing mental support to the rest as I dragged her behind a displaced crate, her cursing.

"I think - I think my back is broken. My legs are numb…"

"Dawn, what's with that Oyariah?" Rafal yelled over the gunfire, as he turned the head of a Dath'Haram medic trying to heal a Vitakarian to green mist.

"I don't know!" I said, shooting some Custodians. "I think he was augmented or something! That guy didn't give a shit about losing an arm, and look at how they move! I need some fucking medical support over here. You ever seen one like that before?"

"No, never. How's Ayah?"

"Her back's messed up, but I think her augs took the brunt of it. I don't know what the hell the Collective's doing, but the Commander needs to hear about this."

Ana ran over to her, taking out a pack of medical nanites and began to apply it. "I've got her. Good job, kid. Go help Rafal."

I nodded, picking up my gun and firing at the enemies. It seemed to just be Custodians and Zararch - no idea who that Oyariah was. He mentioned Ravager's Hand. What the hell was that? Was that a new thing or something?

I started popping heads again, using my regular telepathic attacks and a couple of grenades to clear out the enemies. The rest of the team was focused, but clearly somewhat distressed by what happened with that Oyariah.

"Move inside the building, clear it out. Make sure there are no surprises!" Rafal threw a grenade, tearing the limbs off a group of soldiers trying to set up a rocket launcher. Me and Cataldo moved into the hexagonal building, kicking in the door and shooting some techs that were hiding behind tables. I used my telepathy to scan and clear out entire rooms, dropping enemies before they could ambush us.

While we cleared it out, I took over one of the techs, mentally ordering him to open up the lower part.

"Rafal, I've got one of the techies under my control. I'm having him open up the lower section now. Can confirm there's no one else we have to worry about."

"Copy that. Outside's almost clear. Ayah's doing alright, and there's no sign of any enemy activity or response. Far as we know, we're in the clear."

We descended down the elevator, its huge size feeling more like a cargo elevator in the Praesidium used to transport MECs and the like. I didn't sense anyone - probably because we'd killed them all. Ana was helping Ayah walk, using an arm to help her move. The nanites were doing their work, but the Praesidium's medical bay would have to handle that properly.

"How deep does this go?"

"About one hundred feet. Whatever this holds, they didn't want anyone coming down here."

It got blacker as we went down further and further, our only sources of light being our helmets' flashlights and the vertical blue lines of lights illuminating our way down.

"Dawn, you sense anyone?"

"No one, sir. I-"

"What?"

I held up a hand as I felt more minds below. Technicians, mostly frightened, scrambling about as they tried frantically to access their communications to see why everything 'upstairs' had been cut. There were also a couple of higher-ups, probably the bases' leaders, who'd fled down here when the fighting started.

"There's more down here, sir. Looks like some techies and the like who didn't come up when we came in guns blazing."

"Can they contact anyone?"

I did another mental scan, the fear and frustration of the alien minds as they desperately tried to call and call again to see what was happening felt like a nuisance more than anything. "Nope. They're sitting blind."

"Can they access the databases?"

Another scan. "Yep." I replied. "They have a full set of clearance codes."

"Well alright then." I could sense Rafal's satisfaction through his helmet. "Have them access it all if you can. Make our job as easy as possible."

"I aim to please."

Our elevator stopped at the bottom, us stepping off of it and following a hallway into a room filled with screens and displays. The technicians were sitting at their desks, backs completely erect as they stared daily at the glowing blue screens, idly typing. The officers, meanwhile, were just standing there, blankly staring off into the distance. Cataldo walked over to one, snapping his armored hands in front of his face to no avail.

"Not even a blink." He scoffed. "Creepy."

Rafal ignored him and squinted at the screens. "JULIAN, you getting this?"

"Dawn's lackeys are doing their jobs just fine." He whistled, which with his robotic voice sounded more like a seal dying. "These guys have the mother lode. Operational data, maps, dossiers…I don't get it. Plug me in."

Rafal accordingly stuck a USB drive - at least it looked like one - into one of the consoles. "What is it?"

"Most of this information we already knew or suspected. I don't get - ah."

"What?"

The screens changed, tabs switching and pictures flashing by. "Oh, this is what they were hiding. This should be quite amusing."

Rafal nodded. "Dawn, get into those officers' minds, see what you can get out of them."

"Copy that." I was inside of the aliens' minds in less than a second.

The alien mind flickered, an image appearing of what looked like an African man in his mid-thirties or so, standing still in a room surrounded by wires and control panels. He wasn't breathing or moving at all, just idly standing in place.

What made the scene stranger was that both Keeper and Macula were standing next to him.

"The Replica is ready?" Macula's Ethereal voice strongly enunciated his words though the helmet..

"Of course." Keeper responded. "Looks like a normal Human male. Or in this case, Jason Malik, ADVENT Intelligence agent."

Keeper continued. "And of course, it will operate as intended. Fectorian assured me of that. Its accuracy will be on-point. Mox will die, I can assure you of that." He held up an ADVENT Gauss pistol. "Just hide this on his clothing, and the machine will do the rest. I suppose the prisoners we captured did help us in the end." He paused. "But what if it does not?"

Macula held up one of his hands. "I will take care of that. The guards will be psionically influenced not to check Mr. Malik here. And if he misses…well, it would be a shame if someone infiltrated his quarters and slit his throat, no?"

"How very unfortunate."

"You did well, Keeper."

I cut the connection shortly after.

"Holy shit." I said. "This-"

"What?" Rafal asked.

"This guy here has evidence that Mox's death was staged."

"Seriously?"

I nodded. "Sir, I think we should take them back to base with us. They could give us a lot more."

He nodded. "Knock them out, then bind them. Cataldo, help her out."

"If Betos sees this, hears about this-" Ayah interjected.

"Unfortunately, I doubt she will have the power to do much. If anything, it will plant the seed of doubt. But Zhang will find a use for this. He always does."

"Good work." Rafal said in a neutral tone. "JULIAN, what else is in here?"

"Quite the treasure trove. For the moment, I have an opportunity for deep penetration into the CODEX network. There's much XCOM will find useful here - though most of it is for the Internal Council, probably."

"Get what you can." He turned to me. "When we're done, kill these techs, got it?"

I nodded, looking at him. "Done." I turned back to the screen. "JULIAN, anything you can tell us?"

"Besides boring battle-plans, logistics, and times?" He said snarkily.

The screen changed again, this time to a man with dark black hair sitting on a bench, drinking a milkshake and eating from what looked like (weirdly enough) a McDonald's Happy Meal box, only designed to look like an Ethereal's face.

"It seems as if we have a Reaper Avatar on our hands."

Briefing Room

Praesidium

Several Hours Later

One demolition, moving a heavy Oyariah so Big Sky could pick him up with tethers, Skyranger trip, and a brief stop at the medical bay for Ayah later, the rest of us were back in the same old briefing room.

"Welcome back." The Commander said. "I regret Ayah couldn't be here, but you'll be pleased to know that Phase One of Scimitar was successful, and then some. The information you recovered, while not entirely accessible to you, is going to be very helpful to us."

"What about the tainted water?" Asked Rafal. "Has it been delivered?"

"Yes, actually." Gabriel stepped up. "A few minutes before you got in here, actually. "They didn't suspect a thing, apparently. Now we just have to wait for the SAS to take the heat."

"Yes." Zhang nodded. "You performed well, all of you. We've uncovered some…disturbing information regarding the SAS. It's classified, obviously, but know you've greatly helped our cause and ADVENT's by recovering such a bounty of Zararch information."

"Like the Reaper Avatar?" I asked. "Shouldn't we be more concerned about that?"

"We will handle it if and when the time comes." The Commander stated quite matter-of-factly. "But overall, good job everyone. However, there is one last thing to address - the Oyariah Titan you all killed at the base."

Oh?

He continued. "We've only begun to do an analysis of his corpse and armor, but preliminary scans show a frightening development in Oyariah augmentation." The holographic screen changed to show an x-ray of the corpse. "Notably, besides additional muscle, bone, and skin augmentations, it appears as if the mind has somehow been conditioned to resist psionics. Dawn?"

My eyebrows shot up, not exactly expecting to be called on. "What? Oh, yeah. Uh, that."

Zhang did not seem amused.

"The, uh, mind of the Oyariah seemed resistant to my more generalized, widespread attacks. However, when I attacked him specifically with a directed attack, his mind succumbed quite easily. He seemed tougher, too. When he lost an arm, he didn't seem to react."

Rafal nodded. "He seemed stronger and faster, too. Whatever they did to him, he knew what he was doing. However, he didn't seem to be prepared for our psions."

The Commander nodded. "Besides the reinforced and seemingly redesigned armor, we've translated some of the engravings on said armor. So far, thanks to Xarian, we've decrypted it to 'Ravager's Hand."

"Ravager's Hand?" Cataldo askes suspiciously. "What's that mean?"

"Apparently when the primitive Oyariah were settling into their caves, they had to clear out some kind of race of bugs." The Commander responded. "As part of this crusade, the leaders had some kind of elite force called the 'Ravager's Hand' that would take on the hardest challenges in defeating these bugs. They're regarded as famous heroes among the Oyariah. Now, it seems that they've been seemingly resurrected to fight a new enemy."

"Us." Anastasiya said, shaking her head.

"Indeed. This is going to be a great threat to our squads going forward. We won't always have telepaths on our deployments, and we may have to recruit more to combat them. They're not invincible, you all certainly proved that. But these 'Ravager's Hands', if that is indeed what they're going to call themselves, will be a new challenge not just for us, but for ADVENT's psions and elite."

"And what about Phase Two?" Rafal asked.

"Actually, I was getting right to that." Gabriel interjected. "Commander, if I may?" He nodded.

"We've come up with several plans for eliminating Kaan. One in particular has a high degree of success…" He took a few steps towards me. "If our resident adolescent is up for it."

I raised an eyebrow.

"How would you like to be a spy?"

To be continued in:

Party Crashers