Praesidium
Early November 2017
We all stood in the hangar, weapons ready and waiting. We were all anxious to deploy, as we might be on a timer. Hopefully no one in the Collective knew what we learned, but if they had, even a premature activation of these locusts could cause untold damage.
Knaag needs to pay for this. The SAS has to pay for this.
My disgust towards them only grew. Their atrocities in Zuwara and elsewhere, using the Skull Brothers to do their dirty work, and now this. There were even reports of SAS forces using tribal African peoples as cannon fodder to slow down ADVENT. Betos was really typing up her rap sheet, wasn't she? I could at least understand some of her gripes with ADVENT, but getting into bed with the Collective and their lot? No, that was completely unacceptable. I'd seen too much suffering and death at their hands to forgive them.
I wanted my pound of flesh, and then some.
Besides our squad headed by Meru, Carmelita and Isoif had their own squads here, as well as a fourth led by Kane, who'd apparently gotten a promotion earlier.
Good for him. He deserves it - he's been through a lot.
The Chronicler paced in front of our little army, waiting for the signal to come through. Once the EMP warheads hit, we were free to be teleported in. We couldn't risk our gear being damaged by the blast. Since the data at the lab was priority one, all four squads would be hitting the lab first. Then, we'd hit the base. My squad would enter via the sea, kick the door down, and allow for everyone else to come up.
It all had to go just right.
"Get ready!" The Chronicler said. "Time to go."
Four blue portals opened up in front of him, cutting through reality to show four perspectives of the base.
"Go!"
My squad went first, jumping through the first one. We immediately landed inside of a hallway, the lights flickering as the bases' systems got fried from the EMP.
"Jade Squad, in."
"Emerald Squad, in."
"Amethyst Squad, in."
"Topaz Squad, in."
"Let's move!" Meru shouted. "Clock's ticking, everyone!"
A door at the end of the hallway opened, revealing a very surprised Vitakara guard. He yelped in surprise, before a plasma shot turned his head into yellow mist. We ran past the body, reaching an elevator.
"According to the schematics, the main lab's access is on the other side of 'hydroponics'". Meru explained, as the elevator opened. "Hydro's on the ninth floor." He looked at me as we filed in. "Dawn, you sensing anything?"
Besides the other three squads wreaking havoc in other parts of the facility and the staff panicking, I couldn't sense anyone else. As the elevator closed, I sensed the occasional alien mind being rendered unconscious rather than being outright killed.
Must be the scientists.
"Don't sense any threats, sir. Just eggheads and armed goons."
"Seems to be standard for a lab of such high importance. Too standard." Cairu noted as the elevator descended.
"Yeah…" Braxton trailed off.
"Maybe we just got lucky and landed in a less populated part of the lab?" I suggested.
"Whatever it is, something does not feel right." Cairu added.
The elevator beeped, opening up to reveal what had to be the hydroponics area of the lab. Dozens of cowering Vitakara scientists hid behind rows of plants, which I all knocked out with a wave of my hand. The room was massive - almost a kilometer long, maybe. Rows and rows of dozens of plants grew in long, glass-covered containers, with water and nutrient sprayers above them, occasionally dousing them with bursts of liquid. More containers hung from the walls and ceiling, like a giant greenhouse.
"I hope the other squads brought a lot of restraints." I said, looking at the crowds of scientists I'd ust knocked out. "There is a load of them here."
"Hey, look at this." Blake walked over to one row. "These ones are corn."
"Soybeans over here." Mila found another.
"Rice here." Meru said.
"Got some wheat." I said, jogging to another row of plants. There were dozens, if not hundreds of samples of these and countless others. My suit AI began identifying them via the HUD. Not just grains, but fruits and vegetables too.
These are all cash crops and then some.
"Found some coca over here." Cairu said, staying a fair meter away. Probably was afraid of getting high just by smelling them.
There's just so many.
"These are from all over the world." I said. "God, they're really trying to hit everywhere."
"This is bad. Really bad." Blake moved through the aisles of plants. "Look! I think some of these have been experimented on."
As we moved down the rows of plants, there was a sudden switch from healthy plants to ones that were wilting and dying, clearly affected by something. The crops had turned a dark blood-like red and collapsed, shriveling up and almost crumbling into bits entirely. Fruits, vegetables, grains - all had been hit equally.
I reeled as the smell hit my helmet's filters and then my nostril; it was disgusting. It smelled like the occasional dead animal hit by a car in my neighborhood. It smelled like death, rotting plants dying away mixing with the moisture of this giant room.
This could happen to the world. No, this would, if we didn't do anything.
"All these plants." Mila said. "How many people eat these to live?"
"Billions." Braxton said with a morbid tone. "This would kill so many people if it spread."
We reached the end of the room, a large blast door blocking the way to whatever was next.
"Looks like the way to the lab's through here." Meru said. "This one's labeled just 'Experiments'. Weird."
Experiments?
"Sounds ominous." I noted. "Do the plans say anything else?"
"No, and that's what's concerning." Meru shook his head. "JULIAN's opening the door now. Get ready, people. Look out for anything that even looks like a threat."
"Copy that, Overseer." I said, readying my gun as the blast door opened. We moved in, leaving it open just in case we needed a quick escape route.
The room was as large as the last one, but much more barren. Huge tables stretched out across it, covered in huge piles of dirt with computers in front of them. Glass containers hung above them, as if ready to drop on the dirt.
What are the containers for?
Strange…
As we moved deeper into the lab the dirt began to shake, rumbling.
"What's that?" Mila stopped, looking at the dirt. It continued moving, almost like…
There was something under it…
The dirt exploded, a huge green shape launching itself from the pile. A-plant- revealed itself, looking at us as-
Is that a-
No, it wasn't, but the first thought that came to my mind was a Venus Flytrap opened its mouth, snapping at Mila as she yelped, dodging it. It was enormous; easily at least six or seven feet tall. It waved around, like it was watching us with what only could have been some kind of sentience. Its jaw opened, snapping with thorns dripping with…something in its unholy jaw.
Cairu fired at it, plasma bolts cutting through its stem. Its jaw snappened and open repeatedly like a biological scissor, before more shots from her rifle cut its stem in two, ending its existence.
We all froze there, standing with mouths agape at the botanical abomination that'd just tried to fucking eat one of us.
"What…the fuck…was that?" Blake asked, still pointing his gun at the dead plant. Mila said nothing, obviously terrified by what had just happened.
"That was a plant!" Meru said. "What the hell happened to it?"
"I-I think our Andromedon m-mad scientists did something to it." I said, shaken. "T-that was crazy."
We all looked nervously at the other rows of dirt, ready for anything.
"I need to contact XCOM. Vahlen-"
"Look!" Cairu shouted, pointing to another row of piles of dirt, which started shaking. "There is more!"
More dirt piles exploded as additional plants emerged. Unlike the Flytrap, none of them looked like they were from one.
"I recognize some of those!" Cairu said. "Some of them are from the Haramolian forests. But I don't-"
One plant, a bioluminescent plant that looked like a harmless fern, moved several of its leaves, revealing a root that rose in the middle. A barrage of needles shot out from it in all directions like a fragmentation grenade in all directions. Some hit our armor- mercifully, however, they just shattered against it.
We took cover behind the other shelves, shooting at the plants (never thought I'd say that) as more 'deployed' themselves. One odd-looking fungi that looked like an orange portabella moved its head, some kind of vapor emitting from it. Our suit's AIs automatically reacted, sealing our breather vents and using reserve oxygen. Another began to cough up what looked like spores, while a fourth released a plume of seeds into the air, that made a popcorn-like pop when they hit the ground.
"Team! Move!" Meru yelled, moving towards the door at the end of the room. "We need to go!"
Some of us threw grenades at the plants, psionic power tearing them apart. The closer we got to the door, more plants around the room woke. All of them looked like something out of a cheap 50's sci-fi film. The colors, the designs, they were all real- but they were trying to kill us. Spores, needles, even things I didn't know a plant could even do were being thrown at us.
Cairu made it to the door first and opened it, beckoning the rest of us in. As we moved through the door, she looked at one plant in particular, a large flower that looked like a corpse flower. It opened its leaves, some kind of black soot-like substance shooting out.
"That is a Florinian Death-Flower!" She yelled. "That is from one of our furthest colonies! We need to go!"
"Why? What does it do?"
"If it does anything like its normal counterpart, you will be coughing up your lungs! Go!"
The last of us went through the door, Meru taking out two incendiary grenades, activating them, and rolling them under the door as it sealed. I slumped to the ground, not bothering to watch the botanical bastardizations all burn as the grenades' incendiary effects spread.
"What…the hell…was that?"
No one answered my question because none of us could answer it. For several minutes, we just stood there in shock.
"Perhaps they were modifying the plants as some kind of weapon?" Cairu suggested. "Perhaps as a biological booby trap?"
"I don't want to know." Meru said. "We need to go, we're almost there."
I turned to look at the blast door as we departed, almost feeling the fire on the other end.
Good riddance.
Secret Collective Agricultural Research Base, Cuba
Early November 2017
We made it the rest of the way without much trouble, the other teams distracting the guards. We made it to the data vault, where Meru inserted the JULIAN drive.
"Remember people, get everything you can. JULIAN's going to lock down the labs so we can get physical samples, but we're all going to need to find anything we can use."
We all nodded. Even missing one thing could lead to countless people dead.
We rushed in as the door slid open. The vault held dozens of servers, idly humming as countless bytes of data were transmitted.
"JULIAN's going to piggyback off our suits. Just get close to any server and he can do the rest. Double-time it, people!"
I moved around the servers, watching as my HUD updated with JULIAN's code, his programming interfacing with the servers as they all came online.
"How much data's in here?" Blake asked.
"Several terabytes. Likely to grow." JULIAN replied. "Feel free to use some of the computers."
I gingerly walked over to one, typing on the keys. Let's see…genetics? Maybe. Union data? Okay. That's something. Let's see…targeting! Targeting, here we go.
I clicked 'enter' and the screen shifted to show a world map. Green was areas already where the locusts were planted, blue was where they hadn't been deployed yet.
And there was a lot more green than blue.
"Overseer." I said with a nervous tone. "You're going to want to look at this."
Meru walked over to me. "Dawn, what is-oh."
There were locations including the United States, Ukraine, India, and Europe were targeted. Each one complete with data such as targets. Grains, fruits…nothing seemed to be off the list.
Meru cursed. "Look at all of that farmland. They did it smart too. Seems to be in more isolated farmlands; if it was just recent inspections would miss it."
I shrugged. "I guess no one suspects the bugs." I shook my head. "Look. They've got a lot covered already. Fucking christ."
"Not the worst-case scenario, but bad if it happens," Meru shook his head. "Assuming ADVENT can't stop it once we're done."
"Yeah." I nodded. "What the hell is Knaag thinking? Doesn't he know we'll retaliate?"
Meru shook his head. "At this point I'm not even going to question the insanity here. We need to stop this and we need to do it now-"
"Overseer!" Braxton yelled. "We got something."
While I kept looking at the data, Meru ran over to where he was. I heard muffled curses for a few minutes, before he came over the radio.
"Change of plans, everyone. We're going to hit the base earlier than expected."
"What's the matter?" Mila asked. "Did they detect us already?"
"No. The scientist's ship has an emergency transmitter with the coding on it. We don't know the range on it, but we need to hit it as soon as possible. We're being diverted back to the Aluma for preparation for the underwater insertion. Others will handle the data here. All the squads are going to the base now. We'll be portaled to the sub shortly. JULIAN, how's the data recovery?"
"Quite well. I have locked up all remaining enemies inside the complex. They will not be able to escape for some time, and I will be able to retrieve all data without being interrupted."
He paused. "I hope you like getting wet, everyone."
XS Aluma
Off the coast of Cuba
Early November 2017
We all stood together in the very cramped bay of the submarine, looking at the mini-sub that would transport us to the base. It was a little bigger than a car, with handles, seats, and attachments on the side we were meant to hold onto. The engine at the back was an incredibly downsized nuclear submarine's one, upgraded with some kind of Sar'Manda stealth drive. It wasn't really what I was expecting at first glance, but I just hoped at the end of the day it got the job done.
Oxygen tanks were strapped to our armor with a breathing tube hooked up to our helmet. We weren't going that too far underwater, so our suits would be able to survive the pressure on their own.
Thank god I don't have thalassophobia.
"Gear check, everyone. Let's make it quick. Check"
"Check." I said, followed up by a respective 'check' from everyone else. It wasn't hard to do; just make sure your tube was in and your oxygen tanks wouldn't fall off.
"All good to go? Good." He nodded. "Pick a handle and get on."
We climbed onto the sub, myself picking one of the middle seats on the left side. I secured myself, checking everything was in order. It felt cramped as more and more people got on, hooking themselves in. Being so close to everyone else really made me realize how small I was compared to everyone else. Didn't help that Cairu, being at least seven feet-I mean two and a half meters- was in front of me.
"Everyone's in. I'll notify the hangar control, tell them we're ready."
There was a brief beep, followed by a computerized voice warning us for a second. There was another little beep, then the doors in front of us slid open, a massive wave of water gushing over us and filling the room. The minisub's engine purred to life, drifting out of the hangar.
It felt so odd being on this armor when underwater. You didn't feel anything, due to both the temperature control and the sheer thickness of your suit didn't give you the same feel a scuba suit did. Still, the sheer quiet and stillness of the ocean was a welcome change from the near-constant chaos of the battle back on the island.
The sub picked up speed, quietly humming as it moved away from the submarine. I noticed my arms and legs wanted to float upwards, due to the displacement down here.
It's quiet down here.
The water wasn't totally dark due to our depths, but if you looked down, you could easily see it. Not that there was anything to fear down there- even if sea monsters were real, they'd be the least of my worries. Part of me wondered if Nico was still trying to trap me somehow - but did he really?
Everything had checked out so far. I still couldn't wrap my head around that the Imperator's own daughter had chosen to betray him like this. Denying him the one plan short of calling up Deusian that would've crippled ADVENT for good would've been a huge sucker punch…if he knew about it.
Part of me wondered if it was worth us letting word get out about who did this leak.
Make no mistake, I definitely still wanted to kill Nico for what he'd done. He'd made his grave, and sooner or later he'd have to be buried in it. He and his…whatever that Sicarius was needed to pay for everything. I hadn't forgotten that it was in part due to her that smallpox was taken to create what was unleashed on China before Isomnum's rampage. She may have been a kid- but she was a kid that killed, and one that had very dangerous powers.
She had to go one way or another. Prison? Execution? It didn't really matter to me. All the Ethereals had to face justice, one way or another. The Avatars, too. What could we even charge them with? Not treason, because besides Patricia, none of them had been ADVENT citizens.
Personally, I'd just put them in the Experimentation labs and throw away the key.
Was it worth it?
Leaving this planet for the Ethereals?
How did it feel?
"Listen up people." Meru's voice came over the comms. "I've got Bronis on the line. Patching him in."
The Overseer's accented voice came over our radios as he began to talk.
"You're twenty minutes out from the insertion point. Once we land there, put your oxygen tanks on the sub and move in. You'll use some of the old maintenance tunnels. Remember- you need to stay undetected for as long as possible. We need to do anything we can to disable those Gateways and make sure that cruiser doesn't get off the ground. Once we're in, the other teams will go in and assist you."
He continued. "I need to remind you that the sudden revelation's put a lot on the line for all of us. We and ADVENT will be doing everything we possibly can to cover this up. If word gets out…this will be a disaster for all of us. We could very likely face an escalation on a level we've never seen before in this war. We're talking nuclear weapons and T'Leth's direct involvement.
"Do everything you can to make this operation work. Good luck, team one. Bronis out."
Well, we all knew the score now, didn't we?
Now we just had to keep the world from feeling it.
Former Andromedon Aquatic Base
Early November 2017
The submarine entered the tunnel, rising up out of the water into the deserted tunnel. It clearly hadn't been used for months. The metal that made up the structure seemed rusted and worn down from the seawater, with warning signs on both ends in Ethereal Script. The submarine pulled up to one of the abandoned docks, our seats unhooking.
"We're here. Let's move."
We climbed off the submarine one by one, removing our oxygen tanks and attaching them onto the sub. Once we were all out, the sub's engine started again, submerging the vehicle once again.
"Move out. I'll take point."
We followed Meru into one of the tunnels, paying close attention to our HUD's maps. Water dripped from the top of the tunnel as the old unfinished walls occasionally creaked and groaned every so often. You could see the framework for what the base was supposed to be. What looked like rows and rows of sub pens laid barely complete inside the cavern the Andromedons had tunneled out, like some my grandfather had seen back during the Second World War. The semblance was almost uncanny, the long blocks meant to have held countless submarines now falling apart, with the occasional swarm of fish moving around them.
"When the Andromedons moved in, they converted a part of this facility to filter water for the reactor that powers their base. We'll use several maintenance tunnels to move in and get close. Just a couple hundred more meters."
I could hear the light thumping of whatever was pumping water to the reactor in the background. However, it was drowned out by the constant dripping of water, which only seemed to increase the further and further we got in.
How old is this place?
"So we shut off this reactor, and all the defenses go down?" Braxton asked.
"Basically." Meru replied. "The air defenses here would more than likely blow our Skyrangers to bits, so we have to play it safe."
"Couldn't we just turn the guns on the ship itself?"
"Ships' IFF would prevent that. Plus, we don't want to risk what was pulled back on Desolan."
Oh.
"Then couldn't we have that AI do it for us?"
"JULIAN is-ah, no. I guess not. Suppose she's off doing stuff with Fectorian."
"Permission to speak freely, Overseer?"
"Granted."
"Why the hell is the Commander letting it walk around?" I asked. "It knows it's not Abigail, but it's still an AI- made by an Ethereal of all things. It has the potential to do a lot of damage at any time."
"Are you suggesting she is a spy?" Cairu asked.
"Not really. It just seemed so odd that the Commander was so quick to trust it."
"Assuming Fectorian follows through, it'll be fine."
I shook my head. "Doesn't make it not weird."
We reached the end of the corridor, where a very out-of-shape blast door stood.
"Yep. That's maintenance, alright. Entering the codes from the Avatar now."
The door slid open. We entered a maintenance room filled with computers and tubes, making all sorts of noises.
"We're in. Dawn, telepathic oversight. If someone even breathes, tell us."
"Got it."
We moved through the room and down the corridor.
"When does the EMP warhead hit?" I asked.
"We had to cancel it. Launching the warhead would only give them a head's up something's up. Have to take them down the old-fashioned way."
"Hold up." I said. "Yep, I'm feeling it. Lots of people."
"Give us the run down."
"Copy that. There's about a hundred Andromedons on the cruiser. You've got a couple dozen Custodians, and…shit. SAS troops. No psions, though. And-damn."
"What. Skull Brothers. Probably a half-dozen of 'em."
"Guess Knaag really is deep in this." Mila said. "You've fought them, right?"
"Yeah." I said. "It wasn't fun."
We moved down the corridor until we got to a maintenance hatch.
"Anyone outside there?"
"No sir, we're in the clear. But there's a lot of people close. I'll divert them."
As Meru opened the hatch and pulled down a ladder, I telepathically ordered the enemies nearby to divert themselves, moving as far away from our position as possible.
We just gotta get to the reactor.
I was the last person up, slowly closing the hatch behind me to make as little noise as possible. We were in a warehouse, filled with empty Andromedon suits and SAS armor.
"Alright. The reactor's two blocks from here, underground. We make our way down there, blow it, then go loud."
We all nodded. "Dawn. Stay on overwatch. Braxton, Mila, you're with me on the reactor. Let's go."
We moved out of the warehouse, the general area still empty. I'd assumed JULIAN was manipulating the security cameras, as they all seemed to have gone limp. I watched as the three of them moved across the base and into a building, disappearing.
Come on…
"Several Custodians inside. Taking them down. Stand by."
Several muffled gunshots echoed over the microphone.
"Enemies down. Planting explosives. Prepare for things to get loud."
I peeked around the corner, watching as several SAS soldiers passed the building, none the wiser.
"Explosives armed, we're moving out. Get ready…"
The ground shook like an earthquake as the explosives went off. Cement cracked and buildings shook as the building on top of the reactor collapsed in on itself.
"Go!"
A clump of SAS men died instantly as I killed them with my mind. The others opened fire and threw grenades at the unexpecting Andromedons. We spread out, aiming to kill as many as possible.
"We're out. Dawn, have you found the scientist?"
"Yeah!" I yelled, shooting the limbs off an Andromedon before going for his head. "He's on his ship! We gotta get to the fuel line!"
"I have an idea about that!" Braxton yelled as he and the others emerged from below ground. "Cover me!"
The rest of the base personnel weren't taking too kindly to our entrance. The Custodians and Andromedons were throwing constant plasma at us, with the SAS staying back and throwing grenades. Not like that was going to stop them, though. Mila sent swarms of nanites at them, eating through their armor as they screamed in agony and tried to swat them away.
Nasty.
I followed Braxton to the fuel pumping area, where a fuel line was hooked up to one of the engines. He took a knee, and concentrated.
"What are you-" I began, but stopped myself when I remembered what he'd done with the gas back in Havana.
Feel like I should take a couple of steps back if Havana was anything to remember…
I covered the nanokine, shooting Custodians and SAS men left and right.
Where the hell are the Skull Brothers?
And then I realized.
They're on the ship!
"Meru, come in! The Skull Brothers are on the ship with the scientist."
"I thought so. You and Braxton taking care of that fuel line?"
"I think so? He hasn't said anything yet-"
Braxton raised a hand. "Almost ready, Dawn. Just hold on."
"What are you doing?"
"Reworking the structure of the fuel supply. Have a grenade ready."
I took cover, pulling one out and waiting for his signal. Explosions and gunfire continued across the base, with more and more Collective soldiers dying every minute.
"Now!" He yelled, standing up and running back. "Get as far away as you can and throw that!"
I obeyed, not wanting to be anywhere near what volatile cocktail he'd just cooked up. Once I was sure I was far enough, I activated and threw the grenade, the explosive detonating next to the fuel line.
Boom.
A massive wave of heat lifted me off my feet and threw me a couple meters away. The line erupted into a red and orange mushroom cloud, leaving a huge crater where the fuel used to be. The explosion traveled down the pipe, rupturing it and creating more explosions until it reached the cruiser. The engine it was attached to went up in flames for a moment before exploding as well, shaking the cruiser.
I couldn't even move due to the colossal firestorm, my body aching from the shockwave. I watched with squinted eyes as the entire area went up in flames.
That has to do it.
The ship rumbled.
Wait.
The other engines ignited, fuel spraying out of the busted one as the ship began to shakily lift off the ground.
"No…no! He's trying to escape!" Meru yelled as the sputtering ship lifted off. "We can't make it up there!"
"Where's our Skyrangers?" I yelled into the radio.
"They're a few minutes out! I don't think they can make it in time!"
I looked around, trying to find a solution.
And then, in the corner of my eye, I saw something.
"Look!" I pointed to Braxton. He saw it, too. A shuttle, just sitting right there, as if asking for someone to fly it.
"Do you think…"
I nodded. "We have to."
I walked over to the perfectly intact shuttle, the Andromedon inside's suit burned as he tried to reach for the controls. I shot his arm, before entering his mind for a moment and taking what I needed.
"Can the others make it?"
"They're on the other side." He paused. "Meru, we've got a solution."
"What?"
"We found a shuttle. We're going to board the cruiser."
There was silence over the radio for a moment. He said something, but it was muffled.
"Damnit. Okay, you have permission. But I'm contacting command to ask their teleporters to be on standby. There's no other way, but I'm not risking a Biopath and Nanokeine's lives."
We looked at each other, and nodded. We boarded the craft, Braxton pushing out the Andromedon' body and sealing the door. I sat in the pilot's seat, recalling the instructions I'd telepathically stolen. I didn't really need to know everything, just a couple basics.
"Here we go!" I yelled, shaking with both extreme excitement and worry as the shuttle lifted off the ground, my hands on the flight stick as I moved it towards the cruiser.
Here we go…
The engines picked up speed, as the flight path was headed right for one of the few small hangars on the cruiser's side. It was trailing smoke, the ship wobbling from left to right as it ascended upwards.
That thing's gonna crash one way or another.
"Hold on." I said through gritted teeth to Braxton, as I reduced the speed, trying to do my best to make sure my stunt wouldn't kill us.
"Here we go…"
My shuttle slammed into the hangar, crashing through the partially open blast doors, skidding across the ground and running over a few Andromedons. It ran to a halt at the end, crashing into a wall. The outside of the shuttle cracked, the engines sputtering as the shuttle stopped moving.
I fell out of my seat, getting up as Braxton had already opened the door and was shooting at the Andromedons caught off guard by my stunt.
"Holy shit. I-did we really just survive that?"
"No time. We need to move."
We climbed out, as I drew my pistol and Nanoblade, igniting it. "I'm going for the scientist. See if you can draw them away from me."
Before he could respond, I ran past the dead Andromedons into the hallway, looking at the intel from my HUD.
He's in the bridge…and the Skull Brothers are too.
I activated the psionic aura from my suit, the air glimmering as I dashed as fast as possible towards the bridge. The ship began to shake, nearly throwing me off balance.
They've lost another engine.
Several Andromedon crewmen stepped out in front of me, but it was too late for them to respond. The aura began liquifying their skin and guts as I sliced with the Nanoblade, cutting their suits apart.
No time.
I killed all three in less than ten seconds, leaping over the corpses as I-
Boom.
The ship shook again, throwing me off balance. I stabbed the Nanoblade into the wall, holding it like a handle as the ship careened to the left and right, the engines groaning as the weight of the ship began to put stress on them.
I leaped up a flight of stairs and dispatched another group of unsuspecting crew members. The blade did work, the improved Guardian blade cutting through the Andromedon suits like a knife through butter, putting them down for good with a couple headshots with my pistol. All the while my aura melted them, their soon-to-be-dead bodies being broken down by my mind.
Almost there. Just a couple more-
Boom!
The ship shook again, lifting me off of my feet and slamming me into a wall. The ship leaned almost a full 180 degrees to the left, as I heard another explosion. The ship seemed to straighten for a moment, before slowly taking a nosedive.
There goes another engine.
"Dawn! How close are you?"
"I'm almost right there? Why?"
"This ship's going down. I don't know if I can stay."
"I can take the scientist. Don't worry about me."
"I'm going to find an escape pod. I've drawn dozens of the suited bastards here. Someone's going to get you, don't worry about it. Good luck."
The radio cut out.
Shit. All alone out here.
I reached the bridge door, which was sealed behind a bulkhead. I turned off the aura, not wanting to accidentally kill-
The door slid open, Skull Brothers charging me wielding huge melee weapons. Warhammers, knives, and the like.
You wanna go?
Let's go.
The first one charged me with a warhammer, lunging at me. I swiped with my blade, cutting half of his right leg off before raising the blade and stabbing him in the side, the glowing blade piercing all the way through his torso. He dropped the hammer, his helmet letting out a distorter roar of pain. I tore the blade from his chest, blood and guts spraying from him as he fell to the ground, still alive.
The second and third responded attacked me with knives, narrowly grazing my helmet. I dodged them, capping the second's knees with my pistol before holstering it. The third ran past his comrade and charged me as I raised the blade. I tried to impale him, but he dodged it at the last second. I took a step back and pulled out a grenade, looking at the incapacitated second man, bleeding heavily from his knees.
I let my magnetic blade holster hold my blade from my hand, running at the second man and in one move, grabbed him and put him in front of me like a human shield. I pulled the pin with one hand, sticking it in his before shoving him at the knife-wielding man. The two comrades stumbled into each other before the grenade exploded-
And blew a hole in the ship wall.
The air howled as what was left of the corpses-including the very much alive hammer-wielder- out of the gape in the wall. I reflexively activated my mag boots as the other two got pulled out as well, screaming as the fell to earth.
The door!
The bulkhead to the bridge started to seal, with the others. I reached for the bulkhead at the ships' automatic damage control began to seal the hole I'd made. I grabbed one of the doors and pushed, launching myself through as the door closed behind me.
Into the reach of a Skull Brother.
He grabbed me and shoved me against the wall, jamming his knife into my neck. It barely pierced my armor, and the blade started to bend as he tried to push it in.
Enough of this!
I headbutted him, unleashing a telepathic wave that killed every single Skull Brother instantly. X'Hanna was the only one left in the room. Unlike his military brethren, he held a small plasma pistol in his hand, shaking as he saw his guards all die in front of him.
"Useless!" He yelled at the corpses. "Die!" He shot several plasma shots at me, that just grazed my armor and didn't do a damn thing. "Die!"
I grabbed my blade and ignited it. I walked up to him, ignoring as the shots hit my armor and did absolutely nothing. When his magazine ran out, I cut his suit's legs off, sending him falling to the ground. I stomped on his gun-wielding arm, crushing it.
"No! No! My Union will find me! They will-"
I drew my pistol and shot the suit's speaker, silencing him as sparks flew from it. I turned the gun to his free arm, shooting its limb apart.
"Alert. Altitude dropping."
"Shit!" I yelled. We were getting close to the water. Too close. I looked at X'Hanna's writhing suit, which looked more like Humpty Dumpty with the limbs gone. I grabbed the suit and started dragging it towards the exit. The ship suddenly careened to the right, sending the two of us into the bridge's wall. He in particular crashed into one of the observation windows, a small crack appearing there.
Oh no.
I struggled to get up, the sheer force of the ship falling holding me down. It was like a whole car was on top of me, keeping me from getting up. I crawled over to the scientist, grabbing one of his leg stumps as it rolled from left to right.
Come on!
The ship shuddered again, the speed only increasing as it fell towards the sea.
I'm not dying here. I'm not dying here. I'm-
And then the bridge cracked in half.
The floor fell out from under us as we both dropped into the open air. I screamed, just barely holding onto the Andromedon's stump as the ship's wreckage was now above us, careening towards me-
And then there was a flash.
X'Hanna and I hit a sand beach, throwing up sand as we landed. Pain shot through my back as I rolled over, feeling paralyzed from both the pain and sheer shock of what had happened.
Ow.
"If you want me to keep saving you like this, you really need to start buying me drinks."
I looked up to see Fiona in her armor, helmet off, and rolling her eyes. "Did you just-"
Boom.
I looked at the sea, where in the distance the ship had crashed, exploding and sending a plume of water, smoke, and fire into the air.
"Save you from that? Yep." She walked over and picked up the Andromedon, now thrashing inside of his suit. "Are you hurt?"
"No." I said, still laying here. "I cannot believe I just survived that."
She just shook her head. "I'll tell you what brands I like." She opened a green portal, and disappeared.
Damnit.
My radio crackled. "Dawn, are you there?"
"Here." I replied meekly.
"Braxton made it out alright. A Skyranger got him. What's your location?"
"A beach…somewhere."
"Hold on. You're…a few miles from us. How did you get there? And what happened to the scientist?"
"Ask XCOM." I said, feeling like I was almost out of energy. "I need a vacation."
XS Aluma
Off the coast of Cuba
Early November 2017
After my team picked me up on the beach, we made our way back to the submarine, where we'd have our unofficial debriefing. I'd just chosen to lay in the sand until my team picked me up, on account of me, well falling out of the sky earlier.
"Excellent work, everyone. Mission accomplished." His holographic form said. "Thanks to your actions, we've taken a major step in combating whatever these locusts can throw at us. No guarantees we'll be able to totally prevent what's coming, but we're going to do our best to minimize casualties. Even if the world doesn't know it, you've saved countless people today. All of you."
We all nodded.
"Unfortunately, we're going to have to pull you soon from the Cuba campaign. There's other operations going on that will need our attention soon. ADVENT's more than capable of taking this island by themselves. We just eliminated the biggest threats to their military here, and as such we must devote our attention elsewhere."
Wait, what?
But I wanted to talk to-
"Dismissed, team."
Once the hologram shut off, Meru looked at us. "Our last stop here is a meeting with the Admiral. Just some proper procedural matters. After that, we're gone from here. If you need to do anything before we leave, make sure you do it."
As the team was dismissed, I stayed behind.
"Dawn. Need something?"
"Actually sir. One thing I'd like to do before we go…"
Havana, Cuba
Early November 2017
Havana once liberated from the Collective had certainly changed in just a few days.
The parts of the city that were still in one piece were being turned into temporary military infrastructure to house the rest of the invasion force. MECs and soldiers alike walked the streets, the harbor was filled to the brim with countless navy ships, and parks were being used to set up Gateways.
Where are you?
The databases told me she was in this part of Havana somewhere. The rest of her squad was getting medical treatment during the city's liberation, and had to be here somewhere.
Where are- there you are!
I picked out her mind, getting food from a mobile cafeteria down the street. I speed-walked over there, walking up behind her as she sat alone at a table.
"How's the food?" I asked. "Ooh, is that vanilla ice cream?"
"Ah!" She yelped. "Jesus! How are you so sneaky in that huge armor of yours!"
I sat next to her, shrugging. "That's a state secret, Mary. Can't tell you that."
"Ha ha." She rolled her eyes. "Why are you here? Don't you have super secret XCOM stuff to do?"
"Not anymore. Look, I'm sorry, but we're being pulled out."
Her face dropped. "What? But you just got here."
"Look, I'm sorry. I really am. But-"
"It's your job. I know."
It was hard to tell her that. It hurt me, even. But we both knew it was the truth.
"How much time do you have before you have to go?"
"Two hours."
"Well…" She said, looking at the cafeteria. "They're serving hot dogs today. Waffle fries, too. Remember those from back when we were training together. Come on. I'll come with you. I need seconds anyway."
As she got up, I just looked at the ground.
"What's the matter?"
"I'm just really proud of you." I said, trying to hide my cracking voice. "I saw you fighting in Havana, and you were doing so well. I saw you were one of the psions protecting against that gas cloud. I'm just so happy to have seen you grow like this, and it's my fault that I can't be with you-"
She wrapped her arms around me, surprised by my sudden change of emotion. "No, don't say that. That's bullshit, it's not your fault we can't be together more."
"No." I shook my head. "I'm in XCOM! I've got all of this gear and these powers and I can't do shit to protect you. That's what friends are supposed to do."
"But you did protect me. You saved us from those Mutons."
"And what if I wasn't there to protect you from that gas?"
"Wait. That was you?"
I nodded. "I mind controlled the Sectoids."
She was quiet for a minute. "Oh. That was-must've been a lot. But you did do something! Just because you can't be there for me 24/7 doesn't mean you're a bad person. I know you do your best to talk to me as much as you can."
"It just hurts." I said. "It hurts that we can't be friends like before. Sometimes I just want to…be there. In person, even when I can't. I want to watch movies with you, have sleepovers like before, and do everything we used to."
"I know. And I know you want to do that still. I appreciate you trying, but-"
"Life's a bitch. I know."
"I'll miss you."
"You too."
"Well…" I stepped away from the hug. "I have a better idea than just food."
"What's that?"
I reached into the bag and pulled out a bathing suit. "Want to go swimming?"
Playas del este, Cuba
Thirty Minutes Later
A blast of salt water hit me in the face.
"Ah! You bitch! Ow!"
Mary roared with laughter as I winced from her splashing me. I playfully elbowed her.
"Ow! Jesus, you're strong!"
"Augmentions! Hah!"
Our suits of armor laid on the edge of the beach. We'd snuck off and gotten changed in some abandoned bathrooms. Our empty food trays laid covered with sand and crumbs on an old wooden table nearby.
Mary laughed, looking at me. "Dawn, where do you even get these? This bikini fits great!"
"XCOM commissariat. You can get anything there. Don't worry, you can keep it. It's just a spare."
She sat down in the water, me joining her as the slow tide ran over us. "Dawn, this was an incredible idea. Just us here, on the beach, doing whatever we want."
"I should've brought a margarita mix."
"No kidding?" Her eyebrows shot up. "You drink now?"
"Yep."
"You should've brought me something!" She elbowed me again. "Now I'm jealous."
I rolled my eyes. "In your dreams."
She sighed, crossing her legs as we looked off into the distance. "This is nice." She said. "Just us, being here, doing whatever we want. This beach is amazing."
"I know, right?" I said, kicking up sand with my feet. "And we've got it all to ourselves."
She smiled. "Your skin looks weird. Does it ever…feel odd?"
I looked at my skin, the countless tiny hexagons on it. "No, not really. Feel like before."
She poked it with a finger. "Feels a bit harder than before. How tough is it again?"
"Well, if I really wanted to, a shark out there could bite me and he'd probably lose a few teeth."
"Damn." She said. "That's something. Wanna go out further?"
"Race ya."
We jumped in, my enhanced muscles propelling me farther than her as I swam out into much deeper water.
"Cheater!" She yelled playfully behind me.
"Get good!" I yelled back. I eventually stopped, floating in the water and waiting for her to catch up, panting."
"How…I don't…you're not tired…"
I shook my soaking wet head. "As I said. Get good."
She looked around. "It's quiet out here."
"Yeah. Peaceful, isn't it?"
She nodded. "Wish every day was like this."
I nodded. "Wanna see something cool?"
"Uh, sure."
I grinned, knowing she was going to love this. I used my telepathy, extending my mind across the area, searching until I found…oh yeah.
This was gonna be something, all right.
I opened my eyes, Mary's eyes widening as she saw the purple glow disappear. "What did you do?"
"Just wait."
She looked around for a minute, unsure of what I was doing.
"Just wait."
"I don't-"
"Look."
She looked to her left, noticing a huge shape in the water nearby. It slowly approached, its huge tail waving back and forth. Mary put a hand over her mouth, shocked and awed.
"No way. No fucking way in hell you just did that. Is that-"
I nodded with pride as a whale shark slowly circled below us. Her mouth gaped, staring at the gentle giant as it got closer to us.
"Did you-"
"Don't worry, it's not gonna eat us. Big 'ol guy just wants some plankton. Come on. Take a deep breath, ok?"
She nodded, taking in a breath and gulping. I did so, offering my hand. She took it, and we dove underwater. My augmented vision meant I didn't need goggles, and she'd brought her own. We dived over water, swimming alongside the massive fish as it drifted along in the sea, not paying any attention to us. Mary shook her head in awe as we drifted alongside it, just taking in the sight of nature.
Amazing, isn't it? I communicated to Mary with my telepathy. She nodded in response. Let me know when you need some air, ok?
She nodded, tugging my hand after about thirty seconds. We came back up to the surface, Mary taking her goggles off, almost speechless "Dawn, that was incredible! You told that thing to come?"
"Only for a few minutes. Don't worry."
"We can go back underwater again to swim with it, right?"
"As much as you want."
She was awestruck. "Dawn, I don't know what to say. That was-all of this is just-I mean-"
I pulled her into a hug, my arms wrapping around her. "You don't have to say anything, Mary. You're my best friend. Don't ever forget that, okay?"
"I-I won't."
And we stayed out there in the ocean. We did for a long time.
To be continued in:
Adopting the Maelstrom