Havana, Cuba

Early November 2017

Though the airbase was secure, the battle for Havana had already begun.

Enough damage had been inflicted in the first phase of the operation that ADVENT was moving in force. Naval forces were assisting in the bombardment, Celestials were similarly deploying across secured regions, and squads of ADVENT soldiers were appropriating and repurposing the airbase for their own usage.

In the distance, forward forces from the landing zones had already entered the outskirts of Havana. In the distance, explosions lit up buildings like fireworks, and plumes of smoke had begun to rise from the city.

But we weren't going in just yet. We had things to discuss.

In an appropriated command center, our team gathered around the holoprojector to discuss our next moves.

"ADVENT forces are engaging the local garrison." Meru began. "They're putting up a hell of a lot of resistance, but projections show we'll take the city in a few days. However, our job is to make that effort the least bloody we can. As such, I'm authorizing our team to split up, to cover the most effective area possible."

"What are our objectives?" Cairu asked. I'd noticed she's been the most quiet out of all of us here.

"Several things. Firstly, we've identified the demolition system the Zararch are using," he answered. "They're identifying strategic buildings to topple if they lose more of the city. Some of these aren't important, others would be considered historic sites. The aliens aren't distinguishing right now."

He tapped the hologram. "Intelligence indicates that the master control switch is here, in the Capitol Building. That's also where we assume the people in charge here are located. It's important that we get there as quickly as possible to decapitate the chain of command and destroy that master control switch."

"What else?" I asked.

"There's a number of anti-aircraft weapons in the Plaza Vieja. Taking them out will make our air support unmolested in the sky," he said. "Right now they can't get too close to the city, and are reliant on naval bombardment for external support. Sufficient for now, but will take time for ADVENT's ground forces to assemble in force."

"Any update on those SAS soldiers?" Blake inquired. "Seems very odd that SAS soldiers would be here so far from Africa."

Meru shrugged. "Sorry, I don't have any information on that. XCOM Intelligence thinks they might be involved in research projects, which would explain the limited force present. Nothing concrete as of now."

"Training, perhaps?" Blake wondered.

"Possible, but I personally don't see that as likely," Meru shook his head. "There are better places to do it, and if it was training, there would be more of them. Hopefully we'll learn more shortly."

Mila squinted at the projector. "Have we found any other SAS assets?"

"Not at the moment, but we're keeping an eye out."

No one else had any questions, though you could tell the mystery SAS soldiers were on everyone's mind. They never appeared anywhere other than Africa - so far at least. No one had really known what they were doing recently as far as I knew.

Am I looking too deep into this?

Maybe.

"Very well. I'll be dividing up our squad now," Meru said. "Braxton, you're with me. Mila, you're with Blake. Dawn and Cairu, you're together."

We all nodded.

"However, make sure to stay at maximum several blocks apart. Though we're splitting up to cover more ground, it's vital that we stay somewhat close together if anything happens," he warned. "We'll be right in the thick of it, and we still need to maintain unit cohesion. Take a few minutes to split up and get ready. We'll be moving out in thirty."

Everyone divided themselves up, as I sat down in a corner of the room, waiting for Cairu. She walked over and sat next to me.

"Have I met you before?" She asked, squinting with her glowing eyes. I noticed they were somewhat dimmer compared to how bright Vitakara eyes looked, due to the lesser amount of oxygen in the sub.

"I think we played soccer once?"

"Ah." She looked at my neck. "When did you get that scar?"

"Couple months ago. Avatar."

Her eyes widened. "An Avatar?" She sounded astonished. "You must be lucky."

"I didn't do a whole lot. Carmelita saved me."

"My brother survived Quisilia." She shook her head. "I am amazed he was able to make it out of there."

"I heard." I took a drink from the bottle I was holding. "Lucky sonofabitch."

"What is that?" She pointed to my drink.

"Smoothie."

She cocked her head. "Is that like a fra-poo-..fra-"

"Frappuccino?" I asked. "No, this doesn't have any caffeine in it. It's a fruit drink."

"One thing I do not understand about you humans is your naming for everything. You have your 'coffee', but at the same time you also have 'mocha' 'and 'latte' and 'macchiato' and so on," she pursed her lips. "It is unnecessarily confusing, especially for a beverage. Why is it necessary?"

I shrugged. "It's creative. And it's unique, isn't it? It's better than calling our drinks 'Caffeine type three' or something."

Cairu gave me a look that almost made me snort.

"Wait. Don't tell me you actually call your drinks that."

"Why not?" She shrugged. "We call our version of Morning Stimulant One through Fifteen because of its varied effects."

I laughed like a hyena. "Seriously? You call your drinks that?"

She did not appear to appreciate my amusement. "It's better than when your kind asks me if I would 'like to get wasted' then propose intoxicants." She responded. "I am glad we never embraced the…cultural norms you possess around drugs and hallucinogens."

"Wait, what? You don't have alcohol?"

"Of course we do. Alcohol has useful properties," she said with some incredulity. "We do not drink it."

"Ah. Then you've never gotten drunk?"

"Once, after it was offered to me," she sniffed. "It was a deeply unpleasant experience. Though I have heard that several Borelians apparently find it curious enough to repeat. Something I'm not fully surprised by."

You poor thing.

That was what bugged me about Cariu's people. Their evolutionary adaptation was incredible, and their genetic and cultural diversity made anything we had on Earth blush. But as a whole, they seemed so…well, sheltered. Naive, too, kind of.

She noticed the look on my face. "You are probably wondering about my lack of knowledge on these…recreational activities, yes?"

Before I opened my mouth to answer, she continued. "I am not meaning to offend, but spending time with your species has highlighted that we are more alien than some on either side want to admit," she paused. "And I try to keep in mind that you are different, not better or worse than we are. A better approach than certain people I knew concerning aliens."

"That's putting it lightly."

"Which is why I must unfortunately fight against my own kind to make their lives better," she said "Or give them a chance, perhaps, to improve on our own terms."

I nodded. I could respect that.

She looked at the overseer starting to walk out of the room, with the others following him. "Come, Dawn. I have a feeling we are going to be very busy."

Havana, Cuba

Early November 2017

We marched into the city as part of the second wave, moving behind a tank as it rolled down the streets. Already, part of the city was on fire, the Zararch forces lighting it up in an attempt to delay us.

"You sense anything?"

"No. Not yet."

Cairu looked at a Zararch corpse on the sidewalk, his body riddled with bullets. There was an unexploded grenade in his hand, as if he'd been killed while trying to get one last hurrah in.

"Something wrong?"

She didn't look back at me. "I still feel unsettled killing my own-"

The ground shook as the tank suddenly fired a round into a building down the block, blowing its top off. Scattered plasma fire emerged from the lower levels, as someone lobbed a grenade at us. It missed, melting a nearby bench. I was the first to fire, shooting several rounds into the building, getting a yelp of pain as I hit someone in the chest. Cairu threw her own grenade, blowing out the front of the building and sending several bodies flying.

"Cover me!"

I gave her covering fire as she ran into the building, shooting a Muton in the head. Another Vitakara popped up from behind a receptionists' desk, shooting at us, screaming something directly towards Cairu. I briefly wondered how she'd picked her out, since Cairu's armor was similar to ours…

…before remembering that Cairu was much, much bigger than any of us.

Cairu lunged at her, grabbing her wrist and twisting it, causing her to drop the gun. The soldier yelped, trying to go for a knife, but Cairu knocked it out of her hand, shouting something back at her in their language. Probably 'surrender' or equivalent.

The soldier only shook her head, trying to kick her in the chest, and shouting something that sounded furious towards Cairu, and lifted her wrist to her mouth, probably shouting something to her superiors or comrades.

I shot her in the head, killing her. Cairu stood up, and looked at me, and at the corpse. "Unfortunate," she said quietly. "We are often loyal to a fault, even now."

I shrugged. "Don't think the battlefield is a good time for conversion."

She shook her head. "Not a conversation. An observation."

"What was she saying?"

"She called me a traitor, and attempted to report she was under attack," Cairu said. "I offered surrender to her. She refused. Let's go, there are many more."

I followed her outside, as we took point in front of the tank. We turned another corner, finding several energy shield barricades and-

"Vanguards!" I shouted as several of the modified Sectiods climbed over the barriers, chittering and readying their shotguns. I reached to my waist, pulling out another of XCOM's new toys and tossing it. The lead Sectoid telekinetically grabbed the grenade in midair, looking at it before raising its arm, trying to throw it back.

Something else happened entirely.

The grenade glowed, sending out a mass telekinetic ripple as its center glowed purple. Over half of the Vanguards were caught in its field, while several of the smarter ones leaped away in time. Everything in its little field was being sucked in, from pieces of the sidewalk to even a trash can. The field expanded, pulling the Sectoids into its reach before blinking, compressing the telekinetic field in on itself in blinding speed.

It made a whomp sound as the field imploded, the Sectoids being compressed in an instant causing their bodies to explode. Little bits of armor, weapons and drops of blood sprayed everywhere, coating the concrete streets with yellow spray like paint.

The unaffected Sectoids paused only for a moment, looking at their former brethren splattered across the ground. Cairu, equally surprised, reacted first, shooting two of the Vanguards in the head, while I finished the third with a thought.

"What was that?" She asked.

"Vortex grenade. Fresh from Vahlen's box of toys. Neat, right?"

"Telekinetic psionic technology?" She wondered. "Impressive. I was unaware it could be utilized in such a utilitarian way."

I nodded. "Pretty cool, right?"

I could tell she was grimacing. "I guess it's not for everybody. Let's move-"

The tank commander came over the radio. "Sorry to interrupt you, but I've got a distress call on my end. Looks like some PRIESTs are in trouble a couple blocks down. Mutons are making a push."

We looked at each other and nodded. Cairu radioed the tank. "We will move ahead, and clear out the area. We will keep you updated and request fire support if we need to." She pulled out her little reconnaissance drone, hovering over our heads and scanning the area.

"Copy."

I never understood why Vitakara didn't use any slang or contractions in their speech patterns. They always say we will instead of just we'll, or do not instead of don't. It was a little thing, but it always confused me.

Maybe it's a language thing?

We ran down the street, getting closer when a PRIEST was thrown from an alleyway, crashing into a storefront and slumping down. Cairu ran over to provide treatment, while I shot the rampaging Muton Destroyer in the head, killing it. The Vitakarian pulled out a medkit, removing the PRIEST's helmet, which caused me to gasp.

That woman- that's the leader of Mary's squad!

"She is in critical condition!" Cairu yelled. "My suit detects multiple skull fractures and shattered ribs." She waved towards the alleyway. "Go and cover them. I will keep her in stable condition."

"But you've got no cover!"

She pointed to the tank slowly rolling down the street. "Do not worry about me. Go!"

Havana, Cuba

Early November 2017

Mary Stevens was not having a very good day.

First she found out that her squad was being deployed into one of the parts of Havana that was teeming with the most Mutons.

Then she'd gotten seasick on the landing craft ride here, requiring some emergency medication.

And just now her squad leader had been thrown a block away from them.

"Fuck!" She yelled as she wildly fired her gauss rifle at a Muton, shearing the armor on its left arm and ripping off chunks of it. Dave with his bionic eye picked up the Muton with his telekinesis, throwing it at another, snapping the other's back.

Samantha was doing her best to disorient the rest with her telepathy, and Jimmy managed to burn one's head away with a shockwave. But it did little as the horde of Mutons charged at them, being outnumbered at least two-to-one. "Is mom okay?"

"No idea!" Dave yelled. "There's too damn many! Where's that support?"

"I don't-" She was cut off as a Berserker leapt over Samantha, roaring at her as it charged. Mary tried to fire, but the hulking beast swiped it out of her hand. She yelped, trying to summon a shield as it grabbed her-

And a black mass slammed into it.

The Berserker was lifted off its feet and thrown into a wall, its grip on her letting go.

XCOM!

The Berserker growled, attempting to get up, but the XCOM soldier grabbed it, lifting it into the air with both hands, and bodyslammed it into the ground, the concrete cracking as its back snapped.

Holy shit!

The soldier grabbed their pistol, shooting another Muton in the head, before pushing a hand forward, causing all the remaining Mutons to pause, the air rippling. Mary and the others watched with shock as they staggered, their heads-melting?

What the-?

Their skin liquified as the aliens collapsed, causing her to almost vomit in her mouth.

The Mutons' corpses hit the ground as the soldier walked over to Mary, holding out her hand.

Havana, Cuba

Early November 2017

I held my hand out to Mary, surrounded by dead aliens. The new armor's aura worked better than I expected - the Mutons had died quickly and nearly effortlessly.

I'm wearing Domination from now on. Sorry, Aurora, but this is taking your place.

"Welcome to my world." I said.

"D-Dawn?" She shook, obviously scared out of her mind. "Is-is that you?"

I nodded, doing her a favor and pulling her up. "Everyone okay?" I said to the rest of her team. They all nodded, obviously frightened.

"You saved us." I couldn't recognize them by face as their armor covered everything, but it was Jimmy, the kid from the ship. "You just killed them all. All by yourself. How-"

I just nodded, radioing Cairu. "How's the woman?"

"She's stable, but she's going to need an extraction. She's lost a lot of blood. How's her team?"

"They're fine. All the Mutons are dead. They're gonna need some backup though."

"Affirmative. I will contact someone."

I turned back to Mary's team. "Your team leader's gonna be fine, but she's hurt, and lost a lot of blood. You'll need to retreat to friendly lines for now."

"But-we just got here-" Samantha started.

Must be their first time in a fight like this.

"Look, there's no time to argue!" I shouted. "You need to retreat, we can handle this."

Mary looked at her team, then back at me. "O-okay. Yeah, I can do that."

I picked up her gun and gave it back to her. "You did good. It's alright. You don't need to worry."

She hurriedly nodded. "Team, we need to go. Follow the map!"

I turned around, Cairu running up to me. "There is ADVENT heading our way. We need to move."

"Their leader?"

She motioned her head. "She is fine, but she must remain in place to heal. Moving her would injure her even more."

"Okay. Good work. Let's go."

"Dawn!"

I looked at Mary, who stood there with her team gathering behind her. "Am I going to see you again?"

I didn't know how to answer her. Yes? That'd be a lie. No? That'd be a lie, too.

"I don't know." I said. "But I'll do my best too."

Part of me felt like that was a lie, too.

Havana, Cuba

Early November 2017

We'd continued our march into the city, slowly reclaiming it block by block and street by street.

And it wasn't easy.

"Down!"

A rocket sailed out of an office building, nearly hitting the lead tank and destroying a Humvee. The truck was torn apart, killing everyone inside and raining shrapnel down on us all. Several more ADVENT soldiers went down, medics running to save them. Several Custodians appeared on top of the building and started shooting, the plasma doing little to stop the tank as it returned fire, destroying the upper section, causing it to collapse in itself.

"Move!"

Cairu seemed more agitated than ever as we moved ahead of the tank, going down the street.

"I can't sense these damn robots. Makes my job three times fucking harder."

She ignored me. "We are coming upon the Plaza de la Catedral!" She yelled. "We must secure it before the Collective can demolish it. It is on the other side of the street. Please scan for anyone."

Okay.

I reached out, sensing about two dozen Vitakara doing…something at the church.

"Two dozen of them." I said. "Probably setting up explosives or something. I-wait."

I focused on their minds again. "Wait, hold on. Cairu, something's wrong."

"What is it?"

While I felt their minds, she turned the corner, taking cover behind a Collective barricade that'd been torn to bits by artillery fire. It gave her a clear vantage point of the church, letting her observe what was going on.

"Dawn!" Her voice suddenly changed into one of surprise. "Come over here, now!"

"What?"

"Look!"

I followed her, taking cover next to her. I peeked out to see several Zararch personnel loading what looked like bombs - big ones- into the church. They looked like they were in the process of setting up when a hovering armored vehicle parked next to them. They stood up in surprise, as several Runiararch soldiers got out, armed to the teeth. One of the Zararch - probably the one in charge - walked up to them angrily.

"What the hell?"

I listened in on them telepathically.

"The Zararch guy isn't happy. They apparently showed up without saying anything prior. They're-"

The Runiararch soldiers opened fire, gunning down the Zararch instantly. Two took off to the inside, where more gunshots were heard.

I wanted to see Cairu's facial expression right then and there, but alas, the helmet covered it up.

"Holy shit!" I said out loud. "What the hell just happened?"

Not a minute later, all the Runiararch, unharmed, returned to their vehicle, swiftly driving away from the frontline. But I didn't need to catch them - I'd already read their minds.

And what I'd found was shocking.

"What happened?" Cairu asked, clearly in shock. "I-I've never-"

"They're not rogue." I said, smiling. "They were ordered to. By their officer in charge."

Both of us looked at each other with shocked looks on our faces. Defections- Cariu included- were common, but this? Factional infighting like this?

"Why?" She wondered. "Why do this? Unless…"

"What are you thinking?"

"Opportunity," she said slowly. "The city is falling. Defections in secure territory are close to impossible. In battle, defections can be portrayed as casualties, safer. But if they were ordered to - there are questions."

There was a more pressing matter. "We need to tell Meru. Now."

Cairu got on the comms and radioed the Squad Overseer. "Overseer, reporting. There is a development."

"What's happening?" Sounds of gunfire and explosions echoed in the background of Meru's radio. "This better be good. Things are getting heated on my end. Enemy forces are gathering for a major push."

"Overseer, we have just witnessed a group of Runiararch execute Zararch agents planting a bomb on a culturally important site," she said. "The bomb is not armed and all Zararch are confirmed deceased. Please respond."

Leave it to a Vitakarian to state something so matter-of-factly.

Meru's end went quiet.

"Overseer?" She asked again.

"Please repeat that."

"A group of Runiararch stopped-"

"I heard the bomb part. You said they willingly shot Zararch?"

I butted in. "Affirmative, sir. I read their minds as they left. They were given orders by their commander to do so."

"You're sure?" He was shocked, as I would be.

"Telepathy doesn't lie, sir."

He cursed. "Shit, things just got a whole lot more complicated. Are you sure the explosive is disarmed?"

Cairu nodded. "I have experience with similar demolition charges before I defected. I can assure you it is inert and cannot harm anyone."

"Good work." he said. "Report to my position ASAP. We need to review this information and need backup. Things are about to get messy."

"Copy, on our way." Cairu beckoned me to follow her. "I do not know how to feel about this, Dawn."

"Your own people killing each other?"

"No-yes, but not like this," she shook her head. "Defections are…unusual. We do not have conspiracies or plots like Humans do. Especially in the military. Something is very wrong if the officer in charge is orchestrating a large-scale defection. Let alone being willing to execute other Vitakara."

"Maybe they're deep cover?" I suggested.

"These are soldiers, not Zararch," she shook her head again. "Nor are they Lurainian, who might have reason for secrecy. If their commander ordered them to do it, then it is highly likely they are not the only ones."

"But why?" I asked as she hailed down a transport vehicle. "What do they gain from doing that?"

"What they gain is obvious," she said. "The more concerning question is what drove them to do it. I do not think we will like the answer."

I had to agree.

Havana, Cuba

Early November 2017

"So you didn't telepathically order them to do this?" Meru asked as he reviewed our body cams' videos.

"No, sir," I confirmed. "They did this of their own free will - or at least followed orders willingly. They felt almost relieved to do it."

He shook his head. "This makes no damn sense. We've never seen this before. I'm forwarding this to XCOM. Maybe Nartha can make something of this." He paused. "And you're not the only ones to find defunct explosives. At several points across the city, we've come across disabled demolition explosives. Not all of them, but enough to either show the Collective needs better quality control or someone's deliberately sabotaging them."

"And it wasn't us?"

He shook his head. "No. We hadn't sent any forces in before us to do that. ADVENT didn't either. This has to be someone else."

"So we have a murder by Runiararch, disabled bombs - someone on the inside is willingly sabotaging the defenses," Cairu said. "But why?"

We didn't know what to say to Cairu.

"We need to find more evidence about this. Communications-"

"Sir!" An ADVENT soldier burst into the room, clearly nervous.

"What is it?" Meru asked, annoyed. "We're in the middle of something here."

"The Collective's making a move towards our position. Lots of them."

"And?"

"They have SAS reinforcements."

All three of our jaws collectively dropped.

"They have some kind of new unit with them, sir." He said. "Never seen it before."

Meru reached for his helmet. "We'll continue this later. Dawn, use your mind to find out anything about what's happening. If you have an opportunity, take it."

I nodded.

I followed them and the rest of the squad outside, who'd arrived earlier. We piled into a Humvee, which took us a couple blocks. We got out, climbing a several-story house to its roof, where we took point.

"Look!" Cairu said. Hundreds of Collective soldiers, from Vitakara to Mutons to Sectoids, slowly marched.

And there was a line of new enemies in front.

Flanked by Sectoid vanguard psionically shielding them, were lines of SAS soldiers clad in tank-like lime green armor. Larger than a Purifier, they had huge tanks on their backs, holding what looked like large pest control spray tools in their hands. Purple warning symbols were plastered all over the armor, their yellow visors glowing as they approached.

"What the hell is that?"

A few of the Sectoids were telepathically protecting them. Probably enough to handle PRIESTs, but not for me. I got past them with relative swiftness, likely catching them by surprise, cutting through their minds. I wouldn't have long before I lost control, so I penetrated the minds of the human soldiers, quickly reading their thoughts and memories.

Chemical formulas.

Training.

Andromedons.

Acid.

Oh my god.

"Oh no." I said.

"What?" Meru demanded.

"Toxin Troopers." I growled. "One of Betos' newest toys. They've got an aerosolized version of Andromedon Acid trooper's chemicals. It's improved. I don't know the science, but it can apparently eat through tank armor."

"How many are there?"

"Two dozen, Overseer." I said. "I think I can…"

"Can what?"

"How many Aegii PRIESTs do we have?"

He paused. "About a dozen. Why?"

"Can we stop the gas from hitting our people? It's not windy out, which is why they're deploying this. Plus, it's got a short shelf life, so it's not going to linger."

Meru realized what I was doing. "Dawn. That's incredibly risky. I don't know if that's a good idea."

"I don't know if it is either, Overseer. If I have them spray the enemies, it could hit our guys."

He paused. "Telepathically kill them. Do not have any enemies shoot them to prevent leakage."

"With pleasure, sir." I focused on the two dozen soldiers' minds, and gave the order."

Die.

The lines collapsed, with the Toxin Troopers slumping over.

"Good job Dawn, now we can-"

In the corner of my eye, several Custodians paused for a moment, looking at each other, and nodded.

"Wait-"

The activated plasma grenades, throwing them at the Toxin Troopers' corpses.

"Overseer!" I screamed, pointing at the robots. He saw it too, as did the rest of the team.

"Shit! Everyone-"

Their packs detonated simultaneously, green gas erupting from their packs. I could only look on in horror as the gas began to affect the Mutons around them. Their armor began to fracture, blood and fluids leaking from their armor as they toppled, groaning in pain as they seized.. Custodians' armor began to crack, their circuits frying and shooting out sparks as the gas ate through their structure. The gas billowed, clouds of it beginning to rise and spread.

"What the fuck are they doing?" Blake yelled. "They're poisoning their own troops."

"No." Meru said flatly, realizing their plan. "Area denial. They're going to create a death zone of this poison gas to delay us. And we're close enough that it'll kill our men, too."

"Who ordered this?" Braxton asked. "Who would do this to their own men?"

As the gas spread, more and more soldiers began to fall. I noticed the gas was seeping slowly towards friendly positions.

We had to stop this.

I had to.

With a thought, the Vanguards all put up a collective psionic shield, blocking the gas. I pushed their minds to the limit, their bodies straining themselves to make the shield as large and all-encompassing as possible. My body shook, the feeling of having so many Sectoid minds connected to mind unnerving.

"Overseer!" I yelled. "Tell the telepaths to make the Vanguards hold their shields!"

"What?"

"We have to contain the gas!" My eyes twitched as the mental load began to hit me. Pain, like a hundred knives, were prodding into my head. "Tell the Aegii to back me up!"

Meru looked at me, and said something into the radio. Time slowed down, as my brain seemed to throb with pain.

Thump.

Thump.

It slowly became harder to focus.

Thump.

Thump.

My nose- what that blood?

Thump.

Thump-

Wait.

Some of the Vanguards' minds shifted, as the weight-

The PRIESTs!

I sensed the minds of about a dozen telepaths, mentally wrangling with the Sectoids. Some struggled, having to brute-force the Vanguards. But the PRIESTs were slowly winning. The Vanguards were trying to do three things at once- mentally fight me, mentally fight the PRIESTs, and trying to enforce their original orders. It made them weaker, and with the added psionic weight of the PRIESTs, they began to succumb, one by one.

"Warn the others." I growled. "Go!"

Meru looked at me, then at the Sectoids. "Holy shit, Dawn." He said as the wall raised. Not even remotely close to Aegis, but enough that the gas impacting it could proceed further. Everything else in the gas' range wasn't left untouched either. Plants died instantly, car paint began to bubble and tires popped as their metal frames creaked. Window panes melted and brick and marble houses began to shudder, the gas' effects working their way into their structures.

It was destroying everything.

All that was protecting our people from a green cloud of poisonous death was a purple psionic wall.

Meru and the rest, save Cairu who stayed behind to cover me with her rifle, ran down to the streets, yelling for the PRIESTs to get ready and for everyone else to retreat. I gritted my teeth, cursing under my breath as sweat dripped down my face. The slaved Vanguards continued to hold, but it was painfully obvious they were being pushed to their limits. Exhaustion was starting to catch up with them.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the gas cloud move to the edges of my wall, beginning to creep around it.

Meru! I yelled telepathically. It's coming around the wall!

"Hold on!" He said. "They're coming, and Braxton thinks he has something!"

Better be good, damnit!

Aegii PRIESTs created their own shields, making a larger psionic wall around the Vanguards to keep the gas in. Braxton took a knee to do…something.

I winced as one of the Vanguards got hit by the gas. I cut my mind off from it, not wanting to feel its pain. As its skin bubbled and it fell apart, I did my best to keep the Vanguards going,

"Keep going, Dawn!" Meru yelled over the radio. "Keep those damn Sectoids at work!"

I kept as much of the gas contained with the shield wall as I could, but the Vanguards just couldn't do it. I pushed them and pushed them, keeping the gas away.

I lost track of time, as Vanguard after Vanguard fell to the gas, the shield weakening more and more. None of the PRIESTs were affected, keeping a fair distance and holding their own shields.

I began to feel tired, as it felt harder and harder to keep my eyes open.

Come on…come on!

"Dawn! Can you hear me? Dawn!"

I tried to stay awake, my energy slowly draining as I saw Braxton make a motion with his hand. Several ADVENT troopers holding grenade launchers took a knee, aimed, and fired. The grenades arced, flying over the wall. I noticed the gas seemed to be…thinning?

What?

The grenades fell into the gas cloud, detonating-

Creating a spark-

Boom.

A massive explosion incinerated the gas cloud, created a giant firestorm that enveloped what Vanguards I had left. The gas burned out as the explosion seemed to disintegrate everything within its radius, atomizing everything. Buildings, cars, benches, concrete roads, everything was burned and reduced to atoms.

And then I realized what Braxton had done.

Nanokine.

Sneaky motherfucker.

As the gas and everything around it burned, the PRIESTs started moving away, the shield flickering as the gas was incinerated.

We saved everyone.

I barely heard the 'all clear' on the radio as the firestorm burned itself out, leaving the chunk of the city a black and charred wasteland. It'd lasted less than a minute, but that portion of the city was just gone.

And then I slumped over, dozing off, my figurative and somewhat literal energy depleted.

Mission accomplished.

Havana, Cuba

Early November 2017

I came to, still in my armor, staring at the ceiling. I heard a rush of noise, people talking and moving outside of…wherever I was.

"Dawn!"

Cairu walked over to me. Damn. Must've missed her somewhere. "You are awake! Meru told me to watch you."

I rubbed my forehead with my hand, the armor feeling irritable against my forehead. "How long was I out?"

"Nearly a full day. Your actions gave Braxton enough time to use his powers to manipulate the chemical makeup of the gas. You passed out after the gas was burned away. No one was hurt or injured."

I groaned. "What's happening now?"

"We are starting to make a final push. We have not seen any more Toxin Troopers since. They clearly thought that that offensive would be effective. We are closing in on the city center as we speak."

"Do they need me?"

She shrugged. "Nothing has come up that requires you. Meru specifically instructed me to pour a cold bottle of water on you if something like that happened."

I snickered. "Couldn't even use warm water in a bowl, huh?"

"I am sorry?"

"No, it's nothing. It's a joke."

I sat up, hanging off the bed. "Where's everyone else?"

"Out in the field. The situation was not deemed critical enough to have everyone."

I looked around. "Got any food?"

She shrugged. "I have some permanently borrowed Vitakarian rations I took from some Zararch."

I raised an eyebrow. "'Permanently borrowed?'"

She gave a grin. "They were not around to say no."

"Can I even eat it?"

"Mila had some yesterday. You should be fine."

"Alright, bring it over."

She left for a minute, before coming back with something in a…plastic…container, steaming. "Here." She said. "It is mikalla. Like curry sauce with rice, but with grains all the way from home."

I tried it, somewhat relishing the semi-sweet taste of the sauce and the soft texture of the grains. It was kind of like Indian food, but without a lot of the spices.

"There's not a lot of spice."

"We like things…how do you say it? Blamed?"

"Bland?"

"Yes. That is the one."

Explains why you guys don't like alcohol.

I finished the rest quickly, my stomach making me shovel it into my mouth. "Not bad. It's pretty good." Cairu's radio turned on .

"Cairu, come in. Are you there?"

"Yes. I am here. Dawn is awake."

"Is she fine?"

"Yes. She has no injuries."

"Very good. Get down here with her as soon as you can."

"What is wrong?"

"We're almost at their command center. We need the backup."

"Copy." She looked at me. "Are you ready to fight?"

I nodded. "Let's go."

Havana, Cuba

Early November 2017

Our ride dropped us off just outside of a warzone.

You could tell the alien soldiers here knew they had nowhere to run, and it showed. They showed no signs of surrendering or giving ground, shooting and throwing grenades at anything that moved. We ran from the Humvee and over to Meru's position.

"Good to see you, Dawn. You right?"

I nodded. "Anything happen?"

"They're making us work for this, I'll give 'em that. The capitol building's a few blocks that way." He pointed with his gun. "There's a lot of them there. Mostly Vitakara and Mutons. No Sectoids we've been able to see."

"We will see what we can do." Cairu said. She pulled out her drone, flying it up and over the enemy lines. "I will perform reconnaissance. Please hold."

While she did that, I looked over the cover, shooting a couple of Mutons. With no enemy psions, it was much easier to focus. Dropping enemies left and right with my powers wasn't a concern. Being in battle oddly made me feel less tired than I was before. Something about already being back in action made me feel alive again.

"Overseer!" Cairu shouted. "Something is happening! Look!"

I took cover, looking at the video feed being sent to my HUD. The drone has gotten a view of the command center inside of the capitol building. Someone who had to be the Zararch woman in charge of all this was at the table surrounded by her subordinates, yelling at a holographic map. The dew flew open, a Borelian in Runiararch armor with her own entourage. The Borelian said something to the Zararch, which infuriated them, starting a shouting match. Both entourages looked like they were about to rip each other apart.

"What are they saying?" I asked her. "I can't make it out."

"Neither can I."

As the Zararch person turned around to say something to their personnel, the Runiararch Borelian made their move. She pulled out a plasma pistol and much to my surprise fired, disintegrating the back of her Zararch counterparts' head. The rest of the Runiararch drew out their own guns, opening fire on the others before they were able to return fire.

I swore as I watched the Zararch get gunned down, only a few who surrendered being spared. The Borelian immediately moved to a radio, tinkering with it and leaning towards it. Cairu stared intently at the video feed, utterly shocked. Our helmet's radios intercepted a broadband frequency.

"Something's on the radio-on all channels!"

Cairu sushed me.

"This is Runi'Salenca'Borelia to any ADVENT forces on this frequency." a notably Borelian voice sounded. "As de facto commander of Collective forces in this city, we are offering our surrender. I repeat, we are offering our surrender."

Some of the Vitakara looked around, unsure of whether to drop their weapons or not. I sensed most of them wanted to, but there were some who were insistent on doing so.

"What should I do?" I asked Meru. "Should I mind control 'em?"

He held up his hand. "Not yet. Wait."

Slowly, the Vitakara began to put down their weapons, raising their hands in surrender. Others seemed more hesitant, though they eventually gave up as more and more of their comrades threw their hands up.

"What do we do, sir?" I asked Meru.

"We follow standard POW protocols. Secure them, cuff them, and make sure they're not a threat."

ADVENT soldiers began to move from the frontline, securing the Vitakara, who offered no resistance. The squad gathered around Meru.

"We need to make haste to the capitol, secure whoever's in charge. Go!"

The whole squad, with Meru in front, moved in a triangle-like formation swiftly moved towards the Capitol building. All the Vitakara seemed to have gotten the message, and seemed to be doing their best to remove the Mutons from the picture. I sensed a collective sigh of relief from all of them, happy to finally see an end to the fighting.

We arrived at the steps of the Capitol, just in time for the Runiararch Borelian walk down the front steps, unarmed.

"Halt!" Cairu stepped up, speaking in her own language. The Borelian seemed surprised by that, even more so when she realized Cairu was with them. The Borelian growled something in response. The two aliens conversed for about a minute, before Cairu turned to us, confirming what had been said on the radio.

"She wants to surrender."

Havana, Cuba

Early November 2017

After a rollercoaster of a day, the Borelian (who went by Salenca), using Cairu as translator finally gave us an explanation as to what was going on, along with the Admiral attending to officially accept her surrender inside of the Capitol building.

With the Rapture offensive in full swing, and the overwhelming number of victories achieved by ADVENT in the past weeks, the Runiararch on the island figured that it was only a matter of time until humans came to this island.

Knowing the vast numerical differences, the Runiararch higher-ups had met in private to discuss a possible armistice or surrender in Cuba to reduce casualties. The Zararch, however, seemed hell-bent on making the Humans pay in blood for every inch of the island, no matter how many Vitakara died defending it.

Paired with the videos of the Muton concentration camps being spread all over the Internet, Salenca and her comrades were horrified that their saviors had committed such a horrible act.

So, they had started to take action. All those bombs we found sabotaged? Turns out it was her idea. Soften the amount of damage as much as possible caused by her side to hopefully sweeten the deal.

The gas attack wasn't her idea, and she hadn't even been informed until the Toxin Troopers were deployed. It turned out the Zararch commander, whose brains were now painted all over the Capitol building's walls, ordered the Custodians to destroy the Toxin Trooper's tanks and release the gas if they were killed , to create a toxic zone that would delay the humans.

And in exchange for her surrender? For her soldiers to be treated well, and for one more…odd request.

"She wants to be taken to whoever represents the Vitakara and align herself to them," Cairu said. "She intends to oppose the Collective, and work to provide a viable political alternative for the Vitakara."

Davidson rubbed his chin. "That sounds like something for AEGIS to handle. We can do that, but ask what she can provide."

Cairu did so. "Several thousand soldiers, plus Mutons which are currently being detained in the also have several hundred programmable Custodians on a local server, as well as several brigades of tanks."

"You mean has-"

"Yes." Cairu nodded. "She has Heralds at her disposal."

The Admiral pondered for a moment. "Interesting. This will take time, but the creation of a proper 'free' Vitakara army is something I expect AEGIS will be very happy to work with. We'll keep them detained for now, but will put her in contact with someone in ADVENT who can talk to her."

"As for the Mutons," he paused, looking at Meru. "You have that one leader Muton. Probably best that he handles this since there are adult males. We'll keep them under observation for now."

Meru nodded. "I'll pass this along."

"In the meantime," he continued. "We'll use one of our AIs to access her machines." He looked at one of his subordinates. "See if they can get ANUBIS access to this. Something tells me it'll like 'em a lot."

Cairu told her that. She seemed to stiffen somewhat, but seemed cautiously optimistic once she was told she'd be put in contact with AEGIS. With that, Salenca was escorted away by ADVENT MPs, and Davidson walked over to us..

"Excellent work, XCOM. You've saved a lot of lives today." He looked at me. "That was a risky stunt you pulled with the gas, young lady. But very impressive."

I nodded. "Thank you, sir."

He nodded. "Well XCOM, as of right now, I have no further orders for you until the city is totally secured. Until something else comes up, we'll be establishing a beachhead here. Dismissed, and good luck."

Meru looked at us. "Excellent work, everyone. Now that the city's secured, something tells me the rest of Cuba will be a lot easier. I suggest we go to the outskirts of Havana, see if there's any stragglers. Let's move people."

And we couldn't even sleep in the hotels like in Argentina.

Shame.

Havana, Cuba

Early November 2017

We'd reached the rural outskirts of Havana with no trouble at all; the enemy seemed to have either surrendered or retreated. The whole place was a ghost town, with only us and a couple other ADVENT squads searching other parts of the city. We'd decided to set up shop in an old sugar farm outside the city for the night, taking the several houses in the area as accommodations.

I felt kind of guilty for sleeping in someone else's house without permission. We didn't wreck anything, and the people who'd owned this could be dead, but it still felt wrong.

I did my best to make sure I didn't break anything, though it was a bitch taking all your armor off so you wouldn't crush the bed under your sheer weight.

Once the others had finished setting up motion sensors outside, I took first watch. Thankfully, Meru realized that teenagers needed sleep, so I only had to watch till ten o'clock.

Thank you, Overseer.

I walked past the motion sensors and near a small forest nearby, where I found an overturned truck and climbed on it, sitting.

Weather's not bad.

"You know," a voice said quietly. "It's not safe for people to be out alone this time of night."

To be continued in:

Our Last Hope