This one's a bit on the shorter side, but hopefully you can forgive me impressively bad time management and spotty motivation xd
I'm still working on it a bit on/off, hopefully next chapter isn't that far off ^^
Chapter 7: Thoughts and feelings.
Sandra awoke with a jolt, her whole body tense and ready to fight. That was, until she saw the grey steel panel walls, the sad excuse for a nest, and the translucent wall marking the end of her sell.
Then she let out a slight hiss of frustration over having dosed off. Sandra had stayed vigilant for as long as she could, but to her annoyance that had only been around two days. She needed sleep of cause, without it, her mind wouldn't be sharp, without it she couldn't think clear and fight well. But impatience gnawed at her, as she waited for the final word on her offer to the Commander. The leader of XCOM had been... difficult to deal with. Sandra had expected another arrogant biped, convinced of their own centrality to the universe, perhaps a grizzled old warrior with a rough, bristly exterior—merely conjuring up the image caused her to sneer in disgust. Expectations however had turned out not to match with reality. Sandra had not expected the tall, nonchalant woman dressed in an admittedly comfortable looking knitted sweater. Her dark brown hair reached her lower back, too long to be in any way practical. The leader of XCOM seemed more akin to a random civilian, completely out of place in the stark military base and an anomaly to the seasoned soldiers who'd been guarding Sandra's cell at the time. But the commander, for all her mystery had done a poor job at hiding her pain, 'scars from another life' she'd called it. Her eyes spoke more than her words, the steely grey gaze showed of a complexity and intelligence far beyond what her relaxed outfit would suggest.
Sandra had wondered if it was a deliberate tactic, appearing nonchalant to throw people off and underestimate her. It seemed reasonable, cunning even, but Sandra's briefing, limited as it was, said that the Commander never left the base. Which would suggest this was the Commander's everyday uniform...outfit whatever. Sandra dismissed the thought with a slight hiss, it hardly mattered now. She'd found XCOM and delivered her message to the Commander, frustrating as the talk had been, it was clear progress.
Sandra was, however, uncertain about what to make of the mission's progression. Her orders provided her with a broad range of options, including 'by any means necessary' and 'peaceful if possible', but these instructions were somewhat abstract. Nevertheless, this seemed well within her limits.
Now, she found herself simply waiting. The late-night visit had been an unexpected delight, with a productive dialogue that advanced her mission. But after that...
Sandra paced back and forth, indulging in a moment of restlessness as she considered her situation.
The words still rang clear in her mind.
'convince them and you convince me'
Such a simple statement, for such a complicated order. Sandra had to... work with XCOM, which in and of itself was fine. She was quite ambivalent about both XCOM and ADVENT. Having to earn the trust of the soldiers however was... inconvenient. It made sense of cause, a wise move on the Commander's part. Sandra however had no clue how to go about securing their trust though. She'd been trained to fight and kill, not manipulate and infiltrate.
The whole thing seemed rather... unmanageable. With a thoughtful expression she stopped her pacing and stared towards the door. Come now Sandra, think, not of the destination, but the path to get there. Going with that she formulated a mental question and prepared to make a list.
What do humans like? What makes them feel safe and trusting?
...
...
The conclusion that hit the viper was less than ideal
She had no clue.
Right other way around then. What makes humans feel scared, uncomfortable and on edge?
At first Sandra was blank here too, but slowly she started to formulate a few things.
Excessive violence and cruelty could be added pretty quickly, she knew humans were rather squeamish when it came to those. Unprovoked violence too... Sandra had eaten human a few times before, but however nice the taste had been, she figured discussing such was also a bad idea. At least unprovoked. Okay maybe if someone was rude.
Other than that it seemed that cooperating and assisting XCOM in any way she could was her new mission. Not ideal, it was new ground for Sandra, and the lack of a manageable timeframe didn't help her sour mood.
Then the door slid open, interrupting her thoughts.
A man entered, an air of authority around him which made Sandra peak up for a moment. He wore a green uniform, A knife in it's sheathe on his left shoulder and a pistol in his belt. Brown eyes, dark brown hair, a long scar across his chin. His movements where confident and strong, a seasoned fighter. Good one too if his age was anything to go by, bad fighters rarely survived long.
Had Sandra been shown a few people without context she would've guessed this one to be the Commander - however knowing what the Commander looked like she found the contrast quite amusing.
Two soldiers followed him in, neither of which Sandra recognised, but for now her focus remained on the old man.
"Viper." He spoke in an almost neutral tone, but his eyes were anything but neutral. He didn't like her.
"Old man." Sandra replied neutrally, not quite in the mood for the mans attitude. His eyes twitched at the response but no reaction came, the soldiers behind him remained equally stoic.
Finally after what felt like ages a slight humorous huff escaped him and he spoke up again.
"You have a name?"
She observed him for moment longer before responding, not quite sure if he was friend or foe. In the end she settled for following along. "Sandra." She replied simply.
He repeated the name, "Sandra." nodding a bit to himself. "You can call me Central."
Sandra merely nodded, not feeling the need to prolong introduction any longer than absolutely necessary. The man named Central put is hands behind his back, looking her over.
"I understand you want to join our forces?"
"Join you or fail my mission. Your Commander did not give me much of a choice. "
Central frowned, but eventually he gave a small nod.
"The Commander seems to believe you, and for now that's good enough for me."
Central turned and gave a nod to one of soldiers behind him, who quickly left the room before returning with a rather large bundle of... clothing? Sandra stared incredulously at them for a moment, completely lost on what was going on.
Central took the bundle and put it on the floor in front of the translucent wall.
"And what's that for?" She responded, gesturing with a quick glance to the bundle on the floor."
"That is your new uniform. Should fit well enough, if not... well you can tell the Commander when you meet her later."
"I won't be allowed to keep my own armour?"
Central stared a bit before replaying in a simple, final tone. "No. We're taking it for research. I'll leave you to it, knock on the door when you're done." And with that simple command he turned on his heel and walked out of the cell, the two soldiers following close behind.
Sandra stared at the closed door for a moment, before looking down at the bundle of clothes on the floor - then the translucent wall suddenly slid to the side, making her hiss in surprise.
They where serious weren't they? Just like that the Commander had decided that Sandra join their forces, and just like that it happened. She wondered for moment if anyone had opposed the idea, maybe this central had, he seemed a bit restrained when he was there. Would the Commander even listen if they objected? Sandra realized she knew very little about the power structure of this place, how much responsibility and power lay with the Commander and how much with the people beneath her?
Well, Sandra would find out soon enough, it seemed the next step of her mission was finally beginning.
Hrefna leaned back in her seat, trying and failing to stifle a yawn. She rubbed her eyes with one hand as yesterdays late-night visit to the viper was getting to her. Well not the visit itself, she corrected, more the resulting work and lack of sleep from said visit. Hrefna really didn't do well on a half nights sleep, but calling in sick wasn't really an option... although the idea seemed quite humorous.
She briefly imagine calling central and telling him she couldn't do any work today because it was raining. Oh Hrefna could almost imagine his face scrunching together in an attempt to figure out what on earth she meant by that.
But no, fun as it would be it was also insensitive and stupid. A joke for easier times.
Hrefna doubted the Viper had any revolutionary information, but by the sounds of it she knew someone who did. The Matriarch. The downsides were both obvious and numerous, including potential betrayal or a setup for a trap. It also presented a high risk of conflict within the resistance, everyone had lost someone to the aliens, making the two groups work together would take a small miracle. Even so Hrefna had insisted that they give the Viper a chance. To kill her would be wasteful, and although a meeting with the Matriarch appeared unlikely, I couldn't dismiss the possibility from her thoughts
"Commander, with all due respect - this is a bad idea."
Hrefna turned her attention from the screen to her second in command, Central who was standing in front of the desk. Dr Tygan and Shen where sitting across from Hrefna on the other side, a screen showing the Viper in her cell the only thing on the desk. Hrefna had showed them the recording from the talk she'd had with the Viper during the night. Central hadn't been impressed... chastising her and calling her careless, but in nicer words. Not that she could blame him, it had been a risk, but her feeling seemed to have paid off.
She looked to her chief scientist and engineer, one hiding their pondering better than the other.
"I think it's worth the risk." She replied honestly after a period of silence.
Central observed her for another long moment, eyes furrowed in a way that made him look ten years older than he already was. Hrefna still hadn't quite gotten used to him being so...old, but 20 years of war leaves it's mark.
"Are you sure about this?" He finally asked.
Hrefna let a half smile fall across her face. Central might've looked 20 years older, but it seemed he hadn't aged a day, the big decisions always made him ask twice.
"The Viper has brought us a unique opportunity. She's from inside ADVENT, yet free from their network. The closest we have come to someone with that kind of information is me and Tygan." She finished gesturing to the science officer in question. He looked up at the mention of his name, but didn't say anything.
"But you're a scientist Tygan, your knowledge is invaluable for sure, but you weren't part of the army or the command structure. And me..." Hrefna let out a small sigh.
"I've technically been the very definition of inside ADVENT, but I was knocked out cold in a stasis suit, what little I do remember is a scrambled mess. If this Viper can give us insight into ADVENT forces, vehicles, tactics, command structure, hell even supply lines would be a help."
"She's also given us a unique opportunity to study undamaged weapons and armour. She's still alive, so the plasma rifle isn't locked out." The last part was directed at both Shen and Tygan as Hrefna figured they would both be quite enthusiastic about reverse engineering a weapon of that complexity.
Tygan was a blank wall, only nodding twice while Hrefna did catch a familiar glint in Shen's eyes.
Tygan then spoke up, breaking the small silence that had fallen over the room. "I agree that the plan shows potential. But... I hesitate to let an alien roam free on the Avenger."
Confusion, interest but also a degree of understanding, reflected back at the scientist.
Hrefna tilted her head ever so slightly in a question, and Tygan dutifully continued.
"I understand the benefits, and I respect your vision in this matter..." Hrefna felt it coming and true enough it was the first word that followed. "However, ensuring the stability and security of our team is paramount. We've accomplished much these past few weeks, overcome great challenges, but our success hinges on trust and a shared goal. We have to consider the option that this alien doesn't share our goals... I believe the risk is too great."
Hrefna leaned back in her seat, studying the chief scientist for a long moment. His words held truth, and it was a valuable perspective. What held up Hrefna's attention however was the scientists sudden... caution, hesitation even. Tygan was direct, well spoken but direct. Still, he was right about the possibility of conflicting agenda's, it seemed obvious to Hrefna that the Viper believed in her words and her mission. If she had ulterior motives they where... elsewhere than the mission.
"Central, Shen, thoughts?"
Shen spoke first, a bit hesitating as she seemed to think over their options. "I think it's worth a shot. Assuming this alien chooses to cooperate it could be an invaluable asset - the information and technology is just a bonus."
Hrefna nodded before turning her attention to central for any final words.
He let out huff, shaking his head before speaking. "What team are you putting the alien on?"
"Absolutely not!"
Hrefna flashed a poorly hid smile that only seemed to exasperate the poor squad leader even more. They where in Hrefna's quarters, it was evening - well late evening really, after her visit to Sandra and the chat that followed. Celia's team had been the obvious choice for the new member. They had experience, admittedly limited, but experience none the less. They'd shown restraint, either they respected Hrefna's command enough, or they simply knew what was at stake. It was possible that this would push their trust a bit, but Hrefna felt confident the match would work out. It would take some time of cause, but even Celia was about to accept it. Even if the young squad leader's mind hadn't reached that conclusion yet.
Celia looked to the side, eyes dancing around in thought before she shook her head for the second time in the short conversation.
"You want the Viper to be part of the squad... Why? It's an alien, you saw how it tore the others apart, we can't trust it."
"Celia?"
"I... yes Commander?"
"I'm not forcing this on you or your team. I'm asking you because I believe you can make it work, and I believe it's important that we do."
Celia held her gaze for a moment, the gears turning in her mind. The look of deep thought slowly melted away to exhaustion, but also a flicker of interest.
"Why would a Viper want to join XCOM?"
Hrefna softened her expression a bit as the squad leader seemed to cave, at least slightly to the idea. However she couldn't hold back the a smile at the memory of the determined Viper declaring herself to the cause. The question was weather or not to tell the truth, or how much of it to share. The Viper was here to arrange a meeting, a meeting that, as things where at the moment - the most obvious trap of the century. Hrefna had no intention of going, no trusts in any aspects of the deal, limited soldiers or neutral ground. She liked the idea- of cause she did. Assuming it was true that a group of the vipers had gone rogue like the faction calling themselves the skirmishers? It could be a tipping point in the war. But while she clung to that grain of logic, there was another part of her who simply wanted to meet this matriarch. In person to... to learn. To see the alien leadership maybe. Her thoughts felt strangely scattered on that subject, her feelings did not quite make sense. Hrefna had settled on the feeling being kind of hopeful in nature, but why and what exactly her unconscious mind saw that she didn't was frustratingly beyond her.
How would the truth, or the sliver of truth Sandra had shared - affect Celia's choice? The Viper seemed closed but honest, there was always the chance that Sandra herself would tell.
"In short? To earn our trust."
That made Celia blink, caught of guard by the answer as she stared at Hrefna in confusion.
"The Viper... wants us to trust it? Why?"
"Because I refused an offer to meet with her matriarch on neutral ground." Hrefna looked closely at Celia to see her reaction to the news, to see if she understood what it meant and how it got them to this discussion.
"You... believe they wish to desert?"
"It could be nothing, or it could be everything. I was hoping you could help me figure out which."
At this Celia let out a huff, looking to Hrefna with a hint of exasperation that melted into a smile as she shook her head.
"So... how's this going to work?