Hangar Bay, Praesidium
Early October 2017
Well, there was no more room for delaying this. I'd have to do this sooner or later.
Why does my first time going off-planet have to be this place again?
Dozens of people from both XCOM and ADVENT stood around the hangar bay, casually talking amongst themselves. You could tell there was a mixed sense of excitement and anticipation in the air about this mission.
Sure, I could understand. This was going to be one our biggest moves against the Collective yet. We were going to expose to the world just how depraved they really could be behind the scenes, and hopefully breathe some much needed light into the Mutons' future.
We just had to go there first.
"You good?"
Kunio walked over to me, noticing I'd been the only quiet one in the crowd, casually observing everyone. The T'Leth Agents, Aegis - who I'd just had a lesson with yesterday - and the ADVENT special forces (who I privately had my own qualms about being here) were talking up a storm.
"Not really," I said. "I know what's coming, and I know what we're going to see is gonna be even worse. It's not the enemies or even whatever abominations they pull out of their ass to throw at us. It's what they're doing to an entire species."
He nodded. "Your grandfather fought in the Second World War, right?"
"He saw places like this. But it's gonna be much worse than that, isn't it?"
"Worse?" Kunio had an odd expression on his face. "I don't know what front your Grandfather fought on…but West or Pacific…" the expression turned into a grimace. "I don't know if it will be worse. Bad, but it'd be difficult to overshadow the Germans. Or what Imperial Japan did to China."
"Pops fought in Germany." I said. "He was a spy, OSS. Didn't see what y'all were up to in Southeast Asia, but he saw what the Nazis did. Killed a couple camp commanders, freed some prisoners, mostly working with the various Resistance movements there, really. But he saw the camps. He had pictures from the inside. The bodies, the furnaces…he saw everything."
Kunio said nothing, just looking at me.
"Late in the war, he saw child soldiers too. Hitler Youth that couldn't have been older than middle school age, filled with the same hate and rage their counterparts had. One time some kid in SS gear tried to kill his team leader with a burp gun."
"What happened to him?" Kunio asked.
"Put a bullet in the little shit's head." I said. "After the war ended, my dad never even touched anything that seemed German to him. Cars, food…till the day he died, he could never get those images out of his head. He'd seen too many people suffer under the Nazi jackboot." I almost shivered. "One time he liberated a prisoner-of-war camp where they kept Russians from the Eastern Front."
I gulped.
"They saw Slavic people as less than human - hell, some Nazis Grandpa met hated them even more than the Jews. The women…what they'd done to the women…and the men. God, they were like stick figures with the amount of malnutrition they'd have. Gave up his food for the week so these men who didn't know a word of English could have something to eat."
Kunio nodded. "Your grandfather was a good man."
I nodded heartedly. "The best. You think he'd be proud of what I'm doing today?"
"I'm sure," Kunio said. "I think that wherever he is, he's thinking 'I have the bravest granddaughter in the world' right now'."
"You think so?"
"I do."
He stepped up and hugged me.
"Thank you." I said. "I needed that. A lot."
He let me go. "Feel better?"
"I do."
He looked at me as if he was going to say something, but Fiona walked up to him.
"Dawn, can Kunio and I have a moment?"
"Sure." I took a couple steps back as they started talking. I looked at the crowd again, seeing all the people here. I'd never been in an op this big since-well, since the Hiveship.
That felt like ages ago, didn't it? Before Caelior showed me his face, before Violet, before…Argentina, and everything after that. Just one step after another. I felt like everytime I went out there, the crazier things got.
But wasn't that how it always went here?
My train of thought was interrupted as everyone started to assemble. I snapped out of it and joined in, as Spartacus stepped up to speak.
"The stakes are clear, and our plan is solidified," Spartacus said, with his deep voice echoing across the hangar. "I do not need to impress upon you what it will mean should we succeed – instead I will highlight what this moment represents. Human, Vitakara, Ethereal, and Muton; species who have united to strike against an evil that has gone unchallenged for far too long."
His eyes flickered.. "I will not claim to know what motivates each of you to succeed today – but the end result is the same, the impact will echo regardless of reasons idealistic or pragmatic. It demonstrates a willingness to fight for the liberation of those who are not of your own people. Not merely for others, but for those who would be discarded as an enemy, one that is irredeemable in the eyes of many."
"Some will call it a waste. An insult to those who've been taken. It is not, and I believe each of you realize this, for it is what separates us from the Collective. A mindset, an empathy, a conviction against the injustice and evil allowed to flourish. The Collective tolerates and encourages it – you stand opposed to it."
He nodded at us. "You may think you understand what this means to me, and my species - but you do not, nor should you be expected to know. I can only hope that one day history will capture the importance of this moment, and our people will recount all who take part today as heroes of the Muton species. For this, I thank you, and I am proud to fight alongside you today."
He took a lumbering step back, turning to the leaders besides him. "Overseer Bronis, I defer to you."
Not a bad speech.
I watched as Bronis talked about the teleportation procedures with ADVENT's own version of Kunio.
They're catching up to us.
I better listen in.
"The Pantheon will be executing their own objectives, and the Chronicler and Ir Nara will be providing a critical distraction for our operation," Iosif continued. "One final review of the plan: Astro Squad will move to secure the central administrative facilities, upload JULIAN's offensive fork into Collective systems, and move to secure the schooling and training grounds."
"I am, of course, standing by," JULIAN said into the comms. Kunio remembered hearing that JULIAN was embedded into Iosif's suit, and would be housed there until he was inserted into Collective systems. "I look forward to seeing if the Collective's defenses are more sophisticated than their pitiful efforts to neutralize me."
That got a few chuckles from the soldiers, and a few smiles from the officers.
"Angel Squad together with Extrasolar Unit THETA," Iosif said, referring to the mission designation of the ADVENT forces. "Will be responsible for securing each Gateway, and synchronizing with predetermined ADVENT and XCOM Gateways. Spartacus and Diamondback Squad will secure the birthing centers and oversee the evacuation of Muton females and infants."
He faced the assembled forces, his expression growing serious. "We evacuate as many as possible, but when we have to leave, we leave. This is not the place for heroics – we are striking the heart of the Collective's war machine. They will defend it with everything they can muster. Our time will be limited, and we must use every second of it. Follow your Overseers and Officers as applicable, and we'll achieve victory. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
Everyone put their helmets on as Kunio began doing his thing. It only took him a few seconds to open the portal.
Into the abyss I go.
Into the one place who might rival Paradise as the worst creation of the Ethereals.
Desolan
Early October 2017
When we portaled over, it wasn't even a fight.
Calling it a fight would be insinuating the enemy actually had a chance in winning.
They didn't.
In the few moments after Kunio's portal closed, in the time it took me to even raise my gun to look for a target, the others had unleashed their combined wrath on the defenses. Aegis summoned dozens of psionic boxes to turn hordes of defenders into mush. Geist and the others dropped even more targets with their powers. The Templars and ADVENT double-teamed the remaining ground forces, while the defense towers were ripped to shreds by psionics.
I only got a few shots off, too overwhelmed to look at my surroundings. I knew Desolan was a desolate world, but seeing it in person was something else. The ground was a coarse, sickly brown like a decomposing corpse. The sky was filled with gigantic plumes of volcanic ash and smoke, blotting out the few clouds I could make out.
You do not belong here. You were not made to live here.
There is no life here.
As the slaughter died down, I was taken aback by the sheer size of the Breeding Facilities. They, in a morbid coincidence, looked like the giant malls or warehouses you'd see back home, only these covered miles upon miles of land.
And, well, they weren't literal people factories.
I continued to stare at the death factories, ignoring the conversations with Bronis and the others. The size, the industrial look, and-
Oh no.
Oh god, no.
My eyes widened with horror as I began to feel the minds of countless beings on the edge of my psionic range.
All of them Mutons.
I did my best to try and keep them out, but from what I felt - that was the scariest part. I didn't feel any pain, any suffering. I just felt numbness. Like their minds had all been dulled by something. There were no emotions, no feelings, no thoughts. It was all empty, like a great void had encapsulated all of them.
"Oh god." My legs quivered. "Fuck."
Creed looked at me. "What do you sense?"
"Uhh…"
My mouth went dry.
"What?"
I tried to stand up straight, but my legs wobbled. The closer I got, the more I began to feel. Emotions started to flow. Despair. Sadness.
Suffering.
"Sorry. There's a lot here. A lot of…"
Oh god.
"I don't sense soldiers on the other side."
"Anything else?"
Filter it. Filter it, goddamnit. "Wait. There's more. I can sense Mutons in there; sadness and…they are suffering. All of them."
I closed my eyes and looked away as my team breached the door. I put my helmet head against the wall, trying to close my eyes and keep the thoughts out. I tried to seal them off, replace it all with a calming void, but nothing worked. I tried to focus, I really did, trying to block out all the noise. I clamped my hands over my helmet like I would be covering my ears, doing my best to focus.
Gritting my teeth, I took my hands off my head and grabbed my pistol, watching as a Dath'Haram with us interrogated one of the staff.
Keep it quiet.
"Good, we'll be in touch. Let's go." Creed's voice went out over the comms. I followed him, as we climbed a series of stairs towards whatever this place was holding for us. The blaring alarms weren't helping with my focus either, the rampant blaring pissing me off anymore.
One of our alien comrades was translating what the staff were saying. Even though I already could understand Ethereal Script, I still listened to what they had to say.
"The Pacification Center." He said, speaking as the staff continued chatting. "That's what they call this. They say most of the females are quartered here. The only ones who aren't are in the Birthing Chambers."
Spartacus let out a heavy growl, one that caused me to shake. As horrified as we were, these Mutons were his people, and it made sense that he'd be so furious- no, incandescent with rage.
I really didn't want to have to put him down.
One of the staff swiped a keycard, and a huge door reminiscent of a bank vault slid open, revealing the interior of the Pacification Center.
And I gasped.
Hundreds, if not thousands of female Mutons, all enclosed in semi-transparent cubes the size of an office cubicle. The structure was stories upon stories tall, with seemingly unending walls filled with rows of these Mutons. Their stomachs weren't swollen like a Humans', but some seemed…wider. Like someone had placed a four-by-four inside their waists.
Oh my god.
All of them were clearly drugged out of their minds, tied to tables with arm restraints, with dozens of wires and what looked like IV tubes sticking out of them.
It was a goddamn Muton farm.
A people farm.
And the most haunting part was that I could not feel a fixate on any of their minds. It was so sterile, so clean, so spotless. There was no butchery, no torture chambers, just nothing. Out of the corner of my mind, I perked up to see several clearly awake ones being left by other staff. They had only basic clothes on, and were sluggish in their movement, being led around like a herd of cows by their herding dog.
They were being treated like cattle.
"All weapons on the ground now!" Creed shouted at the guards. "Hands in the air, and do not move." He looked at the Dath'Haram. "Tell them if they refuse to comply, we will kill them."
Just as Creed finished the sentence, Spartacus let out a blood-curdling roar, lashing out at one of the medical staff and grabbing their neck.. The enemies raised their weapons, and we raised ours in response immediately. I really wanted to just mow the motherfuckers down and break all the women out, but I knew we couldn't do that.
Yet.
"Spartacus! Stand down!" Creed ordered, turning back to him. "We need them right now."
Do we really, sir?
Spartacus obeyed, putting the traumatized aide down.
"Alright, we need to start working," Creed said as the guards threw down their weapons. "This process is not going to be fast. What do we need to do?"
Valhalin quickly spoke to some of the staff. "We need to get them off the machines," he said, as the staff started to move and unhook the Mutons from the machines. "They're pumped with sedatives most of the day. Muton resistance is strong enough that the drugs will wear off shortly."
"What do you require of me?" Spartacus asked, his voice tight.
"Be with them as they sober themselves," Valhalin said. "Ascertain their mental capability, and if they are capable, let them manage their release. If there are ones who are pregnant or older, we should know who to help and prioritize."
"I understand," Spartacus said. "And…they will help?"
"They will remove them from the machines," Valhalin said. "Creed, Kunio, Dawn, let's keep moving forward. Spread the word faster. They'll give orders wherever we encounter, but it'll go quicker, and be more convincing if it comes from us."
"Understood," Creed said. "Then we don't have time to waste."
Kunio looked at me, obviously noticing my silence.. "Are you ok?" He asked.
I shook my head. "Not really, but let's go."
Desolan
Early October 2017
We moved further into the complex, freeing more Mutons as we went. I didn't tell Creed, but I brute-forced my power into all the staff, making them work more than overtime to break out as many women as they could. I held no sympathy for them - why should I? They'd helped and stood by while the Mutons as a people were turned from tribal primitives nowhere ready for spaceflight to a slave army.
Here, on Desolan, compliance meant guilt.
And these staffers would have to pay for what they did.
But not was all bad.
I reached out with my mind, feeling the minds of the recently freed Mutons, using my telepathy to numb the effects of the drugs, waking them up. I felt their pain and rage, knowing they had birthed so many children and had not held one of them, cradling them in their arms and making sure they were all right. I took that, and got them off their feet.
Help your sisters. Save the rest. End this suffering. Make sure no one else of your kind can suffer this.
That action and that alone was the only thing keeping me from trying to burn this whole place down. I simply couldn't comprehend the twisted logic one made in their heads to justify this place. Stripping a people of anything that made them them, and shoving them into a farm. Why not just build homes for the tribes, teach them about war and a more advanced way of life over time? Why not make their world more hospitable through terraforming, earning their loyalty? The Collective could've done so much more to earn the Mutons' loyalty and respect, and this was the best they could do? Turning them into cattle?
It made me sick. It made me disgusted. It made me feel rage.
So much rage.
The Ethereals, their Avatars - they all fought to protect this. They put so much effort, spent so much blood and manpower, claiming to be so advanced and enlightened, only to turn around and create this and Paradise.
They were disgusting to stand by such things, or turn a blind eye. Yes, we had the experimentation labs, but those were only fed with the worst of us and our enemies. Mind-reading and meticulous evidence searches were conducted to make sure they were not mistakenly judged. But the Collective did none of those things. They brutalized, they violated, and they destroyed.
This…this is why we fight them. This is what they need to see back home.
This wasn't civilized behavior, far from it. From such an advanced civilization, this was incredibly barbaric. People automatically assumed that the more advanced a civilization got, the less violent they would become.
Well, they clearly had never seen this. If anything, this was the epitome of the Ethereals' gargantuan superiority complex. Put themselves first, use everyone else to their own gain, no matter the cost.
Was the Empire this bad?
As the rest of the soldiers and conscripted staff broke more and more women out, I noticed a seemingly out-of-place door at the end of one of the hallways. Sensing nobody, I smashed the lock with the butt of my gun, kicking the door open. I entered a large room very different from the horror of the Pacification Center. It was a large complex filled with conveyor belts, dumping containers into what looked like huge furnaces.
What is this? Health monitoring center? That sounded uncharacteristically humane for this place.
I opened the door, walking in to find a large room with a large array of containers holding Muton young, infants, in clear containers. Machines scanned them as they moved down a conveyor.
What?
I walked over to one of the many computers here, reading the Ethereal Script here.
Baseline Metrics Testing?
Huh?
I swiped the screen, showing a group of Mutons with clear birth defects. I gasped as the images registered in my mind. Many had some kind of growth on various body parts, deformed limbs or misshapen heads. The text next to them made me take a step back.
'Specimens beneath threshold. Move to termination.'
My god.
They were killing kids with birth defects. I looked around, seeing the various conveyor belts rising up to the ceiling, like some kind of twisted factory, carrying countless kids. One conveyor in particular differed, in that rather than following the others rising to the top to place the kids elsewhere, it carried the occasional container to a square hole in the wall.
Almost as if right on cue, a machine beeped, and a claw arm picked a jar out of the conveyor and placed it on the 'bad' one. I walked over to it, picking it up and looking at the infant inside. It looked fine to me- no visible defects, everything looked fine. I walked over to the scanning machine, gently waving the container in front of it.
'Defect detected. Brain size unnatural'.
The screen displayed a picture of the infant's brain; several lobes were misshaped, and the brain overall looked odd. I yelped, dropping the container, which landed on the ground and rolled away.
There must have been hundreds of them here. Thousands.
This wasn't a medical check.
This was extermination.
All these dead kids. Just…thrown away. Left in this damned place to die. Taken from their parents and killed.
I wanted to cry. I wanted to apologize to all these children for not saving them from their lien masters. These slave lords, these butchers, these monsters who had enslaved an entire species and condemned them to damnation in chains.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't do enough to fight the people that did this to you. The Ethereals, the rest of them. They're all responsible. All of your blood is on their hands. Whether it be the ignorant Runiararch or the Avatar, they all fight to protect what they do to you.
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
A door on the other side of the room opened, attracting my attention. Six Vitakarians in doctor's uniforms walked in at a brisk pace. Their gait and speed made it seem they'd come in here to hide from the chaos - no doubt the alarms had made them aware something was happening. As the door closed behind them they noticed me, yelping with surprise and attempting to run away.
Stop.
Their minds obeyed me, as they meekly walked over to me.
"What is happening here?" I asked, my voice dripping with poison.
"Assessments. Comparisons with baseline health parameters," One of them said, compelled to answer. "Specimens which meet baseline thresholds are moved to incubation. Those which do not are euthanized and recycled."
"These are kids. You know that, right?"
"What are they to you?" Another asked, legitimate confusion coloring their voice. "Your species culls their livestock if they are unhealthy. This is not different. Any who fail to meet the baselines are a drain on resources and support. This site is meant to produce healthy soldiers, nothing more or less. Nothing less to keep the Collective safe."
"Safe?" I asked, my voice starting to crack. "You think you are safe?"
There was a long pause. The compulsion still gripping them.
"No, we are not," one said automatically, forced to answer. "Not right now. You see this, and do not understand. You are a child, of a barbaric species."
I heard a shoe squeak on the floor, turning to see one of the scientists out of my field if vision try and grab a pistol, aiming it at me who had resisted my uncontrolled psionic compulsion. I fired three shots into his head without hesitation, killing him instantly. This seemed to shake them out of their psionic stupor, as they gasped and moved away.
"If I am a barbarian, then why do I not murder children?"
They were rendered mute, and without a compulsion to answer, held their tongues. As if they were expecting to be the next shot.
It wasn't an incorrect fear.
Kunio walked out from behind a faraway door, dragging a cart behind him. He stopped when he saw me. I could sense he was incredibly distressed.
That wasn't something I'd ever sensed from him before.
"Kunio."
"What are you doing?"
"Figured it was the least I could do for these kids. If they can go around murdering people, figure I could return the favor." I pointed to the dead guy. "He had a pistol hidden. They might all be armed."
I cocked my head, looking at him. "Did you find anyone too? Heard something back there."
"Dawn." He said, his voice desperate and filled with- anger? Sadness? Both? "I-"
Another one of the doctors tried to make a break for it, starting to dash away from me. I calmly put my pistol away, drew my rifle, and shot him in the head, blowing his brains out. As he slumped down, I shot him again to make a point, spraying his brain matter all over the floor and wall.
I had no sympathy for these people. They showed the Mutons no mercy, so why should I?
Kunio touched his helmet. "Valhalin, we have a group of staff here. Need you to talk to them." His speakers blared, as he started to instruct them. I knew they wouldn't resist, as they had two XCOM soldiers pointing guns at them. I noticed one or two of them had wet lines trailing down their pants.
Damn right you should be scared.
Kunio motioned me to lower my gun, which I did so reluctantly. As I watched the aliens begin to remove Muton children from the pods, I looked at the cart he'd brought with him.
"What is…"
He motioned me over, picking up a-
Muton baby?
My heartstrings twanged when I saw it. It was about the size of a Human baby, but much pinker. It certainly had more muscles then one, and its eyes were closed, obviously sleeping. I never thought I would say this in my life, but…it was cute.
A Muton was cute.
He picked it up and offered it to me. Hesitant as I was, I holstered the gun and took it, trying to cradle it in my arms like I did when my dog was a puppy way back when.
"Kunio?" I asked. "What did you find?"
"Don't go in there, Dawn." He answered me with a broken voice. "You don't want to know."
But I did know. Or I knew enough.
The kid in his arms made a sound, yawning adorably, mildly surprising me. Its yellow eyes looked at me, blinking. In that moment, I felt protective of this little thing.
Was this how it was when my mother and father held me and my sister for the first time? To have such a fragile little thing in your hands?
"I'm going to start getting the rest of them out," he straightened up. "As many as I can."
I didn't doubt the conviction in his voice. I turned around and walked away, feeling awkward as the baby sat in my hand, staring at me.
I'm not your mother.
I don't know where she is or even if she's alive.
But I'll protect you.
They're not gonna touch you.
Ever.
Desolan
Early October 2017
I walked back to the Gateway, carrying the kid with me. More Muton women had been released, and they'd all crowded at the Gateway, as a flood of Muton kids and…teenagers were walking through the Gateway. I was surprised and honestly pretty unsettled on how quickly the Mutons were trusting us. Yeah, that Dath'Haram guy was there, and our telepaths like me, but after all they had been through, they were trusting us oddly quickly.
As I walked towards the Gateway, several of the Muton mothers turned towards me. One in particular stormed towards me, stopping only a few inches in front of me.
"Woah-"
She started sniffing the infant, like a dog or cat would to their children. Her yellow eyes widened, as she started saying something in her language. To me, it sounded like a grunting caveman, but when I felt her thoughts, I nearly fell over in surprise.
My god, it's her child! It's her kid!
"Is it yours?" I asked, shaking. The woman towered over me - easily seven or eight feet, at least. Muscles were bulging from under her skin, and she was breathing heavily, as if she was full of rage. She could've easily ripped my arms off without breaking a sweat. Instead, she gingerly touched it with one finger, cooing. At least I thought it was cooing.
"T-take it." I offered it to her, and she accepted. She let out a sound that sounded like someone singing as she took it, rocking the baby back and forth gently. She buried her nose in its face for a moment, before looking at me. She said something to me before walking away, as the other Muton women seemed to rejoice. Valhalin walked over to me.
"You found her child. She said that she owes you her life."
"How did she know?"
"Hormones and scent, apparently. She's very lucky. I don't think many of the other mothers will be getting their children back."
As morbid as that statement was, he was right. There were thousands, perhaps millions, of Muton kids here. The sheer probability of them finding children they'd birthed was astronomical.
All the reason to save as many as we could.
Desolan
Early October 2017
I'd lost track of time…how long ago?
It didn't matter to me anymore.
All that did matter was getting all the kids and adults out as I could.
We'd assembled a ridiculously large army of Muton women, whose willingness to trust us further unnerved me. I didn't know how many children had gone through the gateway. Hundreds at this point? Thousands? I didn't even know where they were going- the Praesidium wasn't big enough, and I wasn't exactly intent on becoming a Muton babysitter anytime soon.
I'd held dozens of children today - more than enough for me. My helmet was covered in Muton spit and whatever germs the little buggers coughed up.
What I didn't approve of was the countless staff we were also saving. Had it been up to me, they'd all have been shot on-site. Their association meant guilt, and in my eyes, they didn't give a damn.
But who was I to question the higher-up's order?
What really worried me was the insane amount of ships I could see in the sky. It felt like more and more ships arrived every hour, bombarding Aegis' shield. None of them got through, but sometimes- too many times- the ground shook like a minor earthquake. I didn't know how long he could last, but I couldn't imagine the strain Aegis had on himself blocking so much.
But, all good things had to come to an end.
"All XCOM and ADVENT personnel, move towards Gateways to commence Phase Three, and conclude evacuation." Iosif's voice came over the radio. "We're out of time."
Fuck.
I made for the Gateway, carrying one last kid and handing it over it some random member of XCOM's medical staff. I watched as everyone else started to line up in an orderly fashion and leave, people beginning to disappear through the gateway. However, some of the XCOM soldiers weren't lining up.
"So." Paek, one of the other soldiers, said. "What do we do with them?"
Obviously, he was referring to the staff here that'd been helping us evacuate the Mutons.
What I wanted to do to them was simple enough.
And I knew a whole lot of other people here felt the same way.
As I looked at the staff, they nervously looked at us, as if silently asking for sympathy. But they knew what was coming. That sense of dread and guilt- they knew. Many of them had families. How would they feel if I told them what their husband or wife did?
"Overseer?" Kunio asked. "Orders on what to do with the staff?"
There was a pause before a response. "I leave that to your discretion, Azuma. We don't need them anymore."
"Copy that," Kunio answered. "It won't be long."
We gathered around them as everyone else left through the gateway. "If we leave them," Jasmine, another soldier, spoke up. "They're just going to go back to what they were doing."
"And if we take them, we save them," Paek finished her statement. "XCOM, ADVENT, or whoever's prosecuting this might jail them, but…"
"No. That's not right." I spoke up. "Putting 'em in jail isn't enough. Not for this."
Kunio looked at me. "Are you sure? There's some things you can't take back."
I didn't need to explain anything. "I'm sure. Are you?"
We all looked at each other silently, as if unanimously agreeing on what to do. We'd seen enough today to render judgment.
"Objections?" Kunio asked.
Nothing.
He looked at the staff.
"Kill them all."
With pleasure, sir.
We all opened fire simultaneously. I didn't even use my telepathy to kill them. They deserved to feel it all. Gauss and plasma tore through them, ripping apart flesh and bone. Heads outright exploded, and one typed before an explosive round blew her head clean off, decapitating her. Another tried to run before a plasma round hit him in the chest, melting his heart as a gauss shot tore his face off.
It all ended in a couple seconds.
We stood there, looking at their corpses as blood and guts seeped across the floor. I gave a sick grin as they laid there, finally paying for their crimes.
You're lucky it was so quick.
"Let's go." Kunio said dryly, looking at the dead staff as he turned away and started walking towards the gateway. We all followed, and a few seconds later I was back on Earth, finally ending today's nightmare.
It was over.
Barracks, Praesidium
Early October 2017
"Breaking news tonight…"
"The Public Relations Office of XCOM has released a stunning report…"
"...details a horrifying breeding industry of slave Mutons on their homeworld…"
"...be warned, this content is not suitable for minors.."
"...children that are seen as 'defective' euthanized incinerated on an industrial scale…"
"...women turned into breeding mares, forced to birth children until they die…"
"...absolutely shocking footage and video…"
"...no comment from any Collective channels at this time…"
I sat in my bunk bed, quiet, watching the new streams from my phone.
Now you know. The whole world knows.
We won today.
To be continued in:
An Interview