Author's Note: Another one of my Commanders. His awakening has been on my mind for a long time and I finally got around to making it.
Don't worry, I am not starting another long fic. Only doing one of those for my main Commander.
The rating may change in the future depending on how I edit the future chapters.
The fog in Thaddeus' mind was slowly lifting. Gears slowly clicked into place and turned. All so painfully slow. He always hated the feeling of his consciousness trying to reassert itself after being pulled from the System for a check-up. There was a faint buzzing in the back of his mind. How long would he be himself before They crushed his consciousness back into that dark corner or rifled through it again to find something from the past?
What fresh hell awaits me this "check-up?"
Yet… Everything felt off.
As more sensations turned on, he could perceive his surroundings. Everything around him shook and rattled. He felt himself being lifted a few times and each time he was set down there was a solid thud. They were never this rough when moving him around. He was a prized asset.
And then their voices. It was always muffled in the Stasis Suit, but he could tell whoever was handling him sounded rushed. Almost panicked.
"Bring him over here!" An older female voice said. "And everyone else, clear out! I want this place as sterile as possible!"
"John, you need to get yourself checked out." A male voice said.
"I'm fine, I'm fine." A male voice gruffly replied. "Barely a scratch."
"Barely a scratch? They got your back! You're freakn' bleeding!"
"For the love of… Get your butt over there and get treated, John! You were shot, for God's sake!" The female voice chastised him.
"Doctor Tyler…"
They nearly got into a cursing match until she reminding him, "you want to be alive when we pull him out?" That silenced him.
As he listened, he noticed they all sounded… human. That was different.
Some rebels found where you were keeping me? Or is it another fault in the system? Another screw-up with my health? Hope the feedback kills me this time.
If there was another fault with his health, he knew They would do everything to keep him alive. All the experiments and modifications. What was even left of him?
He felt the movement come to a slow stop before he felt himself being lifted once more and moved.
"Carefully! There's potentially decades of atrophy to contend with!" There was another voice. Male. He sounded much calmer and more level-headed than the others.
"Wish we had more time." A young female voice said. There was some faint stress in it.
He then heard the faint clicking. Must have been the connection ports on the suit.
Hm. Human. One who values their life since they're having to remind everyone of my state. Come on, eyes, get that sensation back already before they suppress it fully…. Wait… that's off.
Though his body felt numb and distant from him, he could tell the usual suppressants to keep him down weren't flowing through his system. Recalling the clicking, he waited for his body and mind to be taken from him again. But nothing happened. But that faint buzzing in the back of his mind didn't fade.
"I don't disagree. But as it stands now, we risk losing the patient if we don't being the removal procedure immediately." That male voice spoke again.
Something is wrong. Catastrophic level. Must be dire if they are slipping up and missing steps. I may have a chance before one of the Elders shows up… Come on body…
Exerting what strength he had, his eyes scrunched together several times until they cracked open, only to slam shut due to a bright light. He went through the same motions again, this time opening his eyes more slowly so they could adjust. As they did, everything was a hazy blur before his vision cleared. Red glass greeted his eyes as well as a silhouette on the other side of it. He could feel the person touching the mask, clearing it of the liquid and fog on the outside.
Older male with glasses. And a young female. Don't recognize the faces. Thaddeus made notes in his mind. But why should he care? Not like he'd remember any of them again once he was back under.
"Okay, all non-essential personnel have been removed. This place isn't as sterile as I would like, Tygan." Dr. Tyler said. "I wish we had more time to prepare. Who knows if the Elders have been keeping his immune system healthy?"
Thaddeus heard someone faintly curse in the background before muttering that never crossed his mind.
"I don't disagree, Tyler. Do you have the injections prepared? Just in case…?" Dr. Tygan asked.
"Prepared and maintained months ago. Have to see if I can get the Medical team to make an isolated suite for him once we get him out of this suit."
"Good. A wise plan. Let's also send any and all vitals monitoring data currently being pulled from the suit to the team."
He felt another click, followed by a twist and a lock to the side of the helmet.
"We're ready." The young female voice said.
There seemed to be a pause as Tygan was examining something.
"Good. Then let's get on with it." The gruff male voice was closer than before.
"John…" Tyler nearly hissed. "You should be in the Infirmary. That patch-up isn't—."
"I'm fine, doctor." But a stifled grunt following that statement said otherwise.
Tch. Someone's stubborn. Thaddeus chuckled in his mind. With how militant they are, would guess they're an Officer, but don't have that flanging voice. Unless the Elders are trying to make ones that sound more human.
And he got his answer as the man came into view. Another human. Older. Face matches the attitude. Can't say I don't like it.
Tygan's hand moved around the helmet, one sitting dead center on the helmet. There was a click, then a high-pressured hiss as air escaped.
If he could have hissed, he would have as the faceplate to the helmet was removed and the full unfiltered light hit his eyes. And the pressure change made his ears popped. And that buzzing sensation spiked for a moment.
More protocols are being skipped. Yeah, something is wrong wrong. That buzzing is getting stronger. Feeling the feedback. They didn't disconnect me properly.
"Remarkable." Tygan said.
"Just like 20 years ago..." Bradford said. There was a faint waver in his voice. A mix of excitement that the Commander, his friend, was alive. But also pain as memories of the past came to the forefront of his mind.
"Move back, please." Tyler nearly shoved Bradford out of the way.
He grumbled before continuing his thought. "… we were still calling it a war back then. We had no idea what was coming."
It took some time for the pain in Thaddeus' ears to fade; the buzzing stayed the same. As it did, his eyes fluttered open, nearly sealing shut again as another bright light shined in them. With a few blinks, he adjusted to all of it.
"His pupils are dilating and tracking just fine." Tyler said. "And… hm."
Now he had a better look at her. All of them, but he focused on her. Pale to fair skin. Black hair. And she wore red-tinted glasses that were hanging halfway off of her face. She looked to be the only one wearing a face mask. Looked like someone cared.
"Hm?" Tygan pressed.
"You'll see." She took a step back.
Tygan's eyes lit up before he leaned in. "I see."
Shock was apparent on Bradford's face. Tyler had to put a hand on his chest to keep him from leaning in too far. "What the hell? These scars… His eyes… His eye."
Though it had been 20 long years since Bradford had seen Thaddeus last, he remembered the Commander's scars. Three slashes on the left side of his face. Got them in a knife fight. Two were just on the corner of his lips, bother starting from his chin and one nearly going to his nose, and the third was the corner of his jaw going halfway up his cheek. And the other scar was on the right side of his face. Scattered scars caused by a glancing bullet. They started at the corner of his jaw and went halfway up and across his cheek.
Yet there were new ones. A vibrant red slash of a mark trailing across the bridge of his nose and face. Bradford's mind quickly figured the Muton that nearly cracked his skull open caused that when he was captured. But the other one was shocking. Twice over. His eyes. Both eyes had a few dark red scar-like tears underneath them. And his left eye… the sclera of his left was pitch black while the iris was blue and glowing. The other eye looked normal, with a light hazel brown iris.
"Doctors…" Bradford turned to them.
"It's not an immediate worry." Tyler said.
"But it has been noted." Tygan added. "Let's see his other vitals. Lily. Tyler."
"We're monitoring." Both answered in unison.
Guess the Elders didn't warn them that They did a number on my face. Sometimes he wondered if he still looked human.
Feeling that buzz in the back of his head grow, Thaddeus closed his eyes tightly as the faintest of grunts came out. For a moment, everything went black as a memory forcefully shoved itself to the forefront of his mind. Memories of the past. The War with the aliens. XCOM. The main HQ. What was happening around the world.
It all flashed by at a sickening pace. He could feel the old stress reverberate through every part of his body.
Ugh… the feedback.
As quickly as it all came, it faded. The world and his vision came back.
"… response from the cerebral cortex. Good. Prepping for cranial intrusion."
He barely caught the words of Dr. Tygan as he came to again. But what he saw next caused another set of memories to come crashing in. The device the doctor had raised, activated, and brought to his face, reminded him of what had happened 20 years ago when the aliens had him.
They had him. Body immobilized in some alien surgery table. There was an Elder there. Or were there two? It didn't matter. The Elder was scouring his mind, keeping it subdued as they gave instructions to a Thin Man. It held a device just like the doctor, more alien in design. They brought it to his face, opened his mouth, and inserted it. The moment he felt it pierce the back of his throat, he felt his mind fully being arrested from him. His prison for the next 20 years.
His mind stayed on the memory for an uncomfortable amount of time. He was barely conscious of what this Tygan was doing but could feel he was examining his mouth and making incisions.
"… I've managed to identify the connection. Different from the standard practice… Preparing to make the final incision."
Thaddeus felt the cold metal touch his tongue and press further back before it suddenly stopped.
"These readings are getting really erratic." Shen said, voice laced with concern.
"Of course they are. These—" Tygan said. Before he could continue, Tyler butted in.
Tyler cursed under her breath. "I'm seeing some sort of feedback on his nervous system. Pathways across his brain are lighting up. The abrupt removal from the System must be the cause…"
"There is that possibility, too. These implants were never designed to be removed. Especially his… We are risking severe—"
"No Plan B here people." Bradford cut them off. "Do it!"
As Thaddeus came to again, the doctor had another similar but different colored device in his hand and inserted it. He felt a pinch and then a pull. With that pull, he felt a surge of electric pain course through his body as whatever it was was pulled out. As it passed the threshold of his mouth, he felt the oppressive buzz in the back of his mind disappear. His thoughts felt… freer. But only for a moment, as more memories came crashing through.
They jumped back and forth during those long few, painful years of the War and the World submitting to alien rule. The cities wiped off the map. The millions killed. The peace treaties. The formation of this ADVENT. The bases under attack. The explosions. Fires. That smell. That Muton that rushed him. He barely deflected two strikes before the third found his face. The whole world came crashing down that day.
Then his mind flashed forward. To his imprisonment in this Tactical Network ADVENT used. It jumped from ADVENT soldier to soldier, their viewpoints as they oppressed the world. Then his mind jumped again. To several instances when the Elders would pull him from the system, from out of the suit to experiment on him and pull at his mind. He spiraled down, down, down.
"Doctors!" Shen yelled. The vitals looked worse.
"This was a possibility… the feedback is growing worse." Tyler said tersely.
Thaddeus let out a yell. His back arched as he rose from the table as that strangled yell came out. It sounded sounded like two beings were screaming as one. Something inside was breaking. Then everything went black.
That startled everyone.
All the vitals spiked before they crashed. His back hit the table with a hard thud. A long eerie beep filled the room as the doctors worked to bring him back.
"No signal…" Shen said.
"No, no, no…" Bradford muttered. How he wished he could do something, but it was out of his purview. "Come on Thadd, you can beat this."
For Thaddeus, everything was still dark. Like a void had swallowed him. Body, mind, and soul. But he felt something. Something reached out to him. It felt familiar, but cold at first. As it enveloped him, it became a warm embrace.
No. He felt his voice in his mind. A series of his voice in different tones and then another. One that sounded more alien as it had a wispy echo to its voice. Now is not our time to die.
He could see it, faintly piercing through the darkness. A ghostly four-armed form reached out to him. He felt something click and connect in his mind and body, weaving together that something that broke just as everything went dark.
It is not our time. Stay strong. Endure as I have. Endure till we meet again.
Then he felt more connections. Other voices. They sounded both human and alien. He too could feel them reinforcing what the other was doing to his body and mind. No. It is not time for you to perish. Let his work be for naught. Let their work be for naught. Rise again, human. Rise again, Ethereal one. This world still has a chance at freedom. Before the Broken One finds and consumes your world.
Then he felt one more. Or was is it two? Either way, they were cold. Very cold. Like the deep abyss of the ocean. He felt this connection sweep around him, drowning that warm embrace as it touched his body in several places. Then something caressed his head. A whisper soon followed.
The ichor flows. I taste the pain.He tastes your pain and the same with your world. The voice shifted to the other side of his head. Will you embrace and choose life? The voice shifted again to the other side. Or find release from your torture in oblivion?
He felt this voice grow closer until he felt those other connections suddenly snap at it and push it away.
Away with you. Sad, twisted thing.
Before it was fully pushed away, it parted with one last thing.
Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
As the feeling surged through him, it all faded. The world was coming back. Thaddeus let out a series of pained gasps.
That eerie, droning beep was replaced by a more steady one. The tense atmosphere in the room had faded.
Thaddeus' eyes fluttered open again only for him to close them. Or attempt to as a hand forced them back open.
"… pupillary response normal. Vitals stabilizing. Procedure complete." Tygan said. A smile graced his face.
A faint grunt left Thaddeus' lips as soon as the doctor's hands were off his face. He slowly shook his head. It took him a moment to realize he could somewhat move. He was usually more immobilized than this.
"Told 'em it would take more than that to keep you down." Bradford said. He shifted to look at the man. A faint smirk graced his face. Just who was he? "Welcome back… Commander."
Commander? Does he know me? He couldn't recognize the man's face or voice. No, no, no… this could be an elaborate trick by the Elders. Wouldn't be the first time They forced a "rescue" scenario in my mind to break me.
Thaddeus studied his face as long as he could, trying to connect him with someone from the past but nothing ever clicked before he passed out again.
"Let him rest." Tyler said. "His vitals have stabilized, but his neural pathways are quite sensitive. I'm picking up faint psionic readings too."
"I will, doctor." Bradford rolled his eyes. "I'll pay a visit a few hours after you guys have moved him. Need to prep some things for him to read."
"Sounds good and—" She paused as she caught what he meant. "Not so fast with that."
"What now?"
"We will have to piecemeal that information. He's been stuck in that prison for 20 years. We have no idea what his mental state may be. Hell, we don't know just exactly what the Elders did to him besides the theories!"
Bradford wanted to roll his eyes. "I know. I'm not going to share sensitive information with him. I know how that could make him spiral. It's just the basics. I'll have Dr. Veer go over it and talk to you."
Tyler opened her mouth before slamming it shut. "Fine. Fine. I'll be waiting for her contact. And get your butt to the Infirmary so they can treat your wounds."
Bradford was about to talk back, but a solid shove from Shen cut him off.
"I'll make sure he gets there!" Shen said. "Come on uncle~" She said. She faintly giggled when Bradford told her to watch the shoving. "I'll keep you guys in the loop as I go over the details we pulled from the suit."
"Thank you, Shen." Tygan said. "We will be out of your Workshop shortly once the team gets here with the gurney so we can more him to the sterile room. Once we have removed the patient from the suit, we will be sending it down to the Labs. Your workers can collaborate with mine."
"Got it, doc!"
With a few more shoves, Shen got Bradford out of the room and upstairs to the Infirmary before heading back to her Workshop. As she reached the Workshop, the doctors were moving the Commander out and up to the Infirmary.
The Infirmary. They had cordoned off some space in the back to act as the "sterile room" for the Commander.
At the moment, they were moving from the gurney onto a more advanced medical bed. They connected various tubes and wires to the suit to take his current vitals before disconnecting everything. All was looking good.
Now they just had to remove him from the Stasis Suit. They hoped this task would be much calmer than what had happened when they removed the chip. Thaddeus was still unconscious.
Much to the doctors' annoyance, Bradford was poking his head in now and then while he was getting his gunshot wounds treated. Eventually, Tyler relented and told him he could enter after his treatment was done, he was fully sterilized and wore some PPE. She figured since he knew Thaddeus well, perhaps he would pick up if anything was off with his body that the files they recovered from old Archives wouldn't tell. He had pointed out the scars and discolored eye earlier.
And perhaps this would keep the Acting Commander calmer and keep him from interrupting their work.
"Lift him carefully. We still don't know the level of atrophy his body has suffered." Tygan said.
"Let's get the bottom section of that helmet off." Tyler said.
With a few clicks and some more hissing, the bottom half of the helmet opened and began to disconnect.
"What the…" Tyler noticed something interesting. "Tygan, get over here."
"Hm?" He came over and peered over his shoulder. Both brows raised. "That is… unexpected."
"I've never seen something like this. Or the implants."
As she was pulling away the bottom half, there were several tendrils connecting Thaddeus to several ports inside of the helmet. They looked organic, a translucent fluid dripped from them as they faintly wriggled. And then, towards the back of his head, there was something faintly golden. Until the helmet was removed, she couldn't get a better look at it.
"They line up to the ports one would find on an ADVENT Hybrid." Tygan took note.
"Correct. Still, I have never seen anything like this. How are we going to remove this? I don't want to cut them just in case that could cause issues."
"Hm." Tygan examined them for a while longer. "Continue the removal process. Perhaps they will disconnect once enough tension is applied."
Tyler just nodded and continued.
As she did so, the tendril tensed, pulling back against her for just a moment before releasing their grip on the helmet. As they did so, they retreated back into Thaddeus' flesh, sealing the hidden ports like they never existed.
"Full body scans are in order once he's out of this. And let's check the data banks for any info on these kind of implants." Tyler said.
Bradford entered the room just as Tyler had pried off the helmet and they were starting to open the suit. He didn't catch what they had initially witnessed with the tendrils, but noticed something more shocking to him.
"What the hell is wrong with his neck?"
Wrapping around the majority of the back of Thaddeus' neck, partially creeping towards the front, was a massive gnarled scar. The flesh was a mix of red and pink tones. That wasn't there 20 years ago. If he recalled correctly, a tattoo was there. Flowers. He couldn't recall the type of flowers, but he remember they were flowers there in the past.
"And what the hell is that!?"
Then the other thing that caught his eye was more concerning. One just below his shaved hairline. It was raised, metal, and golden. It took the shape of a segmented diamond. In the center of it was a circle with a more traditional-looking connection port which was quickly covered by flesh once the helmet was fully removed.
"Calm down, John." Tyler was not in the mood for his outbursts. "We don't know. We are taking note of it."
He quieted himself and just watched.
As they began to remove the suit, Bradford nearly had another outburst as he witnessed the tendrils connected to several hidden ports across his back and there was another similar segmented diamond implant just at the top of his spine. But this one was different. It was raised like the other, but underneath and intersecting some points was a black base with a dark blue outline that took the shape of an inverted triangle. At each point of the triangle, there were three insertion-style ports. These did not cover themselves in flesh once the tendrils retreated, instead, a golden cover appeared over them.
As they continued to remove the suit, a similar implant was found at the base of his spine, but the triangle underneath the diamond was right side up.
Prying the rest of him out, a few more hidden ports were found across his chest and limbs, but nothing like the implants on his back.
"What the hell did They do to you?" Bradford spoke his thoughts as he watched the doctors examine Thaddeus' back. What he thought was only a scar on the man's neck extended all the way down his spine. Was his back broken when he was captured? What were those implants for? Many negative thoughts ran through his mind.
He shook his head. He didn't need to dwell on the negative. That would just drag him into dark places. Instead, he focused on the tattoos.
His eyes bounced from tattoo to tattoo. Taking note of each on that survived. "At least your other tattoos survived."
The first he noticed was a vine of fan-like leaves trailing up from his left thigh to his left side. Then there were two twisted rose branches full of thorns wrapped around his upper right arm, and the other was just above his left wrist. And the last were two on each shoulder. Three abstract elongated diamond eyes encircling a small star underneath.
It made him smile. "Her handiwork survived."
"Everything is looking good, according to the preliminary scans." Tyler said.
"This is remarkable. His body is in good condition despite the years in suspended animation." Tygan said.
"He looks thinner." Bradford noted. "He's lost some muscle mass."
Tygan nodded. "That was expected. The muscle atrophy is not as dire as we initially assumed. Once he's awake and more lucid, we can gauge what therapy he will need."
"Any clue on the implants.?" He asked.
Tygan shook his head. "Nothing matches what we have in the archives. I've never seen this during my time with ADVENT. Same with other personnel who worked 'behind the scenes'. "
Bradford grumbled at that. "Hm, take some pictures. I want to see if the Skirmishers know anything about this." They were the first faction to cross his mind. Former ADVENT. They would probably know the various implants the Elders used. Especially the higher-ranking soldiers. "And the Void Walkers, they're great at finding the obscure." Another faction that dealt with information and resources trading. They had a knack for getting near-impossible information. For a price, of course.
"Of course. I was thinking the Skirmishers could be of assistance."
The physical examination continued for a few more hours.
Someone finally ushered Bradford out of the Infirmary and to his Quarters for a well-deserved nap. The adrenaline from the operation finally started to wane and they did not want another patient to work on.
A few days had passed. Thaddeus was still being kept in the Infirmary. They wouldn't be moving him until he woke up and they could do some psychological exams.
He was still out. His eyelids would move. A limb would twitch. And some murmurs would leave his mouth, but he didn't wake up.
The examinations continued through those days. A few were to see if they could cause those hidden ports and tendrils to emerge. Nothing they did could force them out but they noted each location with great accuracy.
Besides the physical tests, they ran some blood tests. His immune system wasn't neglected, but they still gave him some boosters so he could acclimate to the Avenger and her crew with minor discomfort.
As they sequenced his DNA, comparing it to his old one recovered from one of the old data centers, they noticed there were some changes. With several focusing on his nervous system and synaptic connections. Dr. Tyler wondered if that was why she noticed the psionic activity when they were removing the chip from him. She passed the information over to Dr. Marin and Quinn. That was their expertise.
So far, it didn't look like alien DNA had been inserted, but more thorough sequencing and scans would be needed.
Bradford's inquiries with the Skirmishers lead nowhere. None of them had seen implants like that. The implants they, their kin, and the aliens had were rarely ever hidden and they knew nothing about the diamond ones.
He was still waiting for a reply back from the Void Walkers. They supposedly had a lead but wanted to double-check it. Bradford was a fine client. They didn't want to lose him if their information was poor.
For now, XCOM worked on gathering more resources, hunting down leads, expanding its reach, and preparing for the next batch of operations.