#xcom dr tygan

[xcommatriarch]

[Welcome back, Commander]

Xcom-themed blog is now up and running! Main blog: @korbensoi

[TAG Navigation]

[Media] Art | Writing | Misc | Reblogs

[Timelines] Xcom: EU | Xcom 2 | OC!AU

[Relationships] (EU/Xcom 2) Zhang x Anton | (EU) Commander x Bradford (Xcom 2) Commander x Tygan | (Xcom 2) Bradford x Volk (Xcom 2) Elena Dragunova x Pratal Mox (Xcom 2) Victor x Resistance Radio DJ

[Character Masterlist]

[Senior XCOM Staff]

[OC] Ensoi Lesnaya | Tag: Ensoi Lesnaya Callsigns: (XCOM) Commander / (undercover) Chit-Chat / (chosen) Matriarch Role: The XCOM Commander

[Canon] John Bradford | Tag: John Bradford Callsign: (XCOM) Central Role: Operations officer, (previous) Avenger's Pilot

[Canon] Dr. Richard Tygan | Tag: Richard Tygan Callsign: (XCOM) Hamburgler Role: Chief Science Officer, (previous) ADVENT gene therapy clinic employee

[Canon] An-Yi Shen | Tag: Lily Shen Callsign: (XCOM) Lily Role: Chief Engineering Officer

[Canon|MIA] Dr. Moira Vahlen | Tag: Moira Vahlen Callsign: - Role: (Previous) Chief Science Officer

[XCOM Troops]

[Canon] Shaojie Zhang | Tag: Shaojie Zhang Callsign: (XCOM) Chilong Role: (EU/LWR) Assault | (XCOM 2) Ranger

[OC] Anton Smits | Tag: Anton Smits Callsing: (EXALT / XCOM) Vector Role: (EU/LWR) Medic | (XCOM 2) Specialist

[Canon/OC] David Jones | Tag: David Jones Callsing: (XCOM) Big Sky Role: (EU/LWR) Skyranger Pilot | (XCOM 2) Avenger Pilot/Specialist

[OC] Stepan Kononov | Tag: Stepan Kononov Callsign: (XCOM) Wombat Role: (XCOM 2) Specialist

[OC] Lucinda Del Rosa | Tag: Lucinda Del Rosa Callsign: (XCOM) Heavens Spear Role: (XCOM 2) Templar

[Canon] Elena Dragunova | Tag: Elena Dragunova Callsign: (XCOM/Reapers) Outrider Role: (XCOM 2) Reaper

[Canon] Pratal Mox | Tag: Pratal Mox Callsign: Mox Role: (XCOM 2) Skirmisher

[Resistance]

[Canon] Konstantin Volikov | Tag: Konstantin Volikov Callsing: (XCOM/Reapers) Volk Role: Reaper faction leader

[Canon/OC] Jake Levy | Tag: Jake Levy Callsign: (XCOM) The DJ Role: Resistance Radio Host

[Aliens]

[Canon/OC] Victor | Tag: Victor Lesnoy Callsign: (ADVENT) The Speaker Role: (EU) Infiltration Unit | (XCOM 2) ADVENT Speaker / Resistance Radio Co-host | (Post XCOM 2) Actor

[Canon] Chosen Assassin | Tag: Assassin

[Canon] Chosen Hunter | Tag: Hunter

[Canon] Chosen Warlock | Tag: Warlock

[generallemarc]

Random Starcraft 2 voice actor fun facts:

Stettman is voiced by Robin from Teen Titans. Yes, the same Robin who's still being mangled by TTG. And if that wasn't enough, General Warfield is voiced by one Gary Anthony Williams, who is both the voice of Dr. Tygan from XCOM 2(there's a good bit of overlap between SC2 and XCOM2, with John De Lancie being the most notable example) and also Uncle Ruckus from Boondocks. Yes, really. I'm probably gonna have more of these, and I'll send as many as my un-adhd-medicated brain commands.

[noparg]

Xcom2 - Review

With the release of the Nintendo Switch a lot of companies decided to release ports of their games on it. The latest to join this trend was 2K with their collections, namely for the Bioshock, Borderlands and XCOM2 series. Today we’ll review the XCOM2 collection, the oddball of the bunch, which includes XCOM2 and its DLC.

Story

Set twenty years after the first game, XCOM2shows a future were XCOM was incapable of repelling the invasion. After a war with heavy casualties, the aliens set the ADVENT coalition, formed by humans originally interested in negotiation with the invaders, as puppet government.

At the start of the game, an XCOM assault team is diving into an ADVENT facility to rescue the Commander, the character from whose point of view the players interact with the game. After succeeding in their mission Dr Richard Tygan, XCOM’s resident scientist, starts a procedure on the Commander in order to remove a chip implanted in their skull.

After analyzing the chip, it turns out to be a connection to the whole ADVENT network, through which they were using the Commander to analyze and provide tactical information on their campaigns.

With the Commander now freed, XCOM is back into the playing field. After raiding several of ADVENT’s secret facilities, XCOM discovers the Avatar Project, which they will have to stop.

As part of the War of the Chosen expansion, three new factions are introduced into the game, with extra bits of story for each of them. An example of this is the conflict between the Reapers and Skirmishers, which is ended by a truce against their common enemy, the aliens.

The expansion also adds three special enemies known as the Chosen, each of them having a special relationship with one of the new factions. They also have some backstory which can be found and read in the archive, adding some amount of flavor to their characters.

Graphics

While the graphics in XCOM2 Collection are as good as expected, they are definitely downgraded from the other versions. Sometimes the image will look muddy or somewhat lacking in details. This is not a stylistic choice since the blur happens to go into whatever is being shown, but taking into account the lesser power of the Switch it was most likely necessary.

Even if player controlled characters are not the most unique, players can fiddle around with them. All allied soldiers can be customized with a decent amount of options, allowing for a slew of different designs. It is worth mentioning that while this is a nice touch, it could’ve been somewhat more polished since a few of the options are somewhat lackluster.

Enemies are a whole world, with each of them including very unique designs which allow players to know at a glance what to expect. The only possible complain would be with the standard soldiers, which from a top-down perspective can sometimes be confused. This first part also applies to boss enemies, which boast special looks to match their abilities.

There are a few graphic mess-ups in the game, such as enemies going through walls due to their size, soldiers putting their arm through walls to shoot, etc. Another one would be how the camera is handled at times, making weird moves that don’t show anything and being generally awkward.

Sound

XCOM2’s sound is pretty good; the voice acting, soundtrack and SFX all have high production value and effort put into them. That said, the soundtrack can get somewhat repetitive after a while, with most songs being pretty similar.

It is also a very nice touch how allied soldiers have accents matching their nationality (if the option is enabled), though same as with the soundtrack, after a while of hearing the same catchphrases it ends up becoming repetitive.

Gameplay

Both mainline XCOM games play as turn based tactics games. In them, the player controls a squad of soldiers which start being the same but obtain different classes after downing some enemies. These classes obtain more skills as the soldiers defeat more enemies and continue improving. Soldiers belonging to the factions added by War of the Chosen evolve somewhat differently, having several skills to choose from without special training instead of the standard two.

Missions feature varied objectives, from hacking into ADVENT terminals to rescuing civilians. A few of these missions offer the option to evacuate without defeating all the enemies, but most of them don’t. As the player progresses through the game, more missions with more types of enemies start appearing.

As previously mentioned, War of the Chosen adds the three Chosen enemies. The way they work is that any operation conducted in there are has a chance for them to appear. If the player manages to defeat them, some extra skill points will be received. The Chosen cannot be killed until several “covert operations” are launched and their hideout is discovered. Once this happens, an assault can be launched to kill them for good.

A great part of XCOM2 is the base and map management, with several locations which can be analyzed to receive bonuses. Inside the base itself, the players can choose researches for Dr Tygan, unlocking improvements, new items, etc. They can also build new facilities, craft items, visit the archive etc.

All of the research and construction takes in-game time, which passes as the player scans the aforementioned locations. At the end of every in-game month, supplies are received from other resistance cells. These supplies act as money of sorts, being required for most improvements or items. There is also another currency known as Intel which can be used at the black market and some other places.

Overall, it is very arguable that the base management is as important as the operations themselves if not more. This management is also a hard part of the game which may get overwhelming at times due to a lot of events happening very close to each other, but as they improve, the players will get used to it.

Now that everything about the game itself has been talked about, there are is pair things to mention about the port, which is less than perfect.

A big issue is the abhorrent loading times; going for up till a pair of minutes at times. It is safe saying a player would have more than enough time to get fully dressed or take a bathroom break while the game loads. This is especially true for any save reloads, which are even longer than other load times. Similar to this, crashes can occur, which force to reload the game from the last save.

Directly related to this, during some of the loading screens voiced dialogues may start, but due to the game being stuck in said screen no subtitles will pop up for those playing without volume.

Lastly, it is important to mention that the game will drain the Switch’s battery in about 3 hours while undocked. Besides this, it will make it get hotter and the game itself will start getting choppier/slower the longer it’s played for, up till the point where inputs may take several seconds to register.

Conclusion

XCOM2 is a really good game on the hard side of general difficulties. While accessible to everyone, it is hard to master and requires either time or being familiar with the genre as a whole. If the player can get past the issues of the port, which don’t affect gameplay itself, it is a more than recommendable game.

Personal Opinion

“XCOM2 is very fun, I had a really entertaining time with it, thought the loading times annoyed me to no end. It definitely is a great tactics game and a worth purchase, though I’d personally recommend getting it on any of the other platforms over Switch. This recommendation is due to a pair of factors, but mainly because the other versions don’t have the issues intrinsic to the port (though allegedly the loading times are still sketchy) and are more likely to get sales anytime soon.”

[blessed-pineapple-cruncher]

any xcom scientist: exists

me: is that an evil person?

[justxcomthings]

[image source]

JXT: When They Forget The Extra Cheese On Your ADVENT Burger

[companionwolf]

Fictober 2022 fill #2

Prompt: 8. ‘“Do you remember?’

Fandom: XCOM / Pokemon Mystery Dungeon

Rating: Gen

CWs/TWs: none

In the cold dark of the crashed alien ship, in the midst of an empty bridge, three Pokemon sit in a huddle around a cracked, old Luminous Orb. In the dim light the Mawile, who has a small robotic companion floating around her shoulder, doles out bowls of berries and apple slices to her Noivern and Lycanroc companions. She and the Noivern set to eating; the Lycanroc sits and broods. 

“You have to eat, Central,” says the Mawlie to him. 

He does not answer, just snuffs half heartedly at the bowl. 

“We have to go check on the humans, and it’s a long trek,” she continues. “You need to eat.”

The Lycanroc sighs and relents. 

The Noivern swallows, speaks. “Are you sure the two of you are enough?”

The Mawile frowns. “Do you remember, Tygan? We’ve been doing these runs for years-- we’ll be fine.” She glances at her robot. “You’ll be able to see our progress every step of the way.”

“It just seems ill advised every time,” he says, biting into a Pecha Berry.

“We’ll find people on the way,” Central says through a mouthful of food. “Well, Pokemon. Maybe they’ll even want to come back here, join us, help us clean this place up and get it running finally-- I know Shen would like that.”

The Mawile nods. 

“Still,” the Lycanroc continues, “even if it’s just us, there’s only a few dungeons to pass through to get to the vault. We’ve got supplies, and if we run out we can…” He trails off. “I don’t like going into the Pokemon towns but at least they’re not a city center.”

“Why do we not make our own community?” Tygan asks. 

“Need people for that,” says Central. “Supplies. Room to build. Pokemon with arms.” He glances down at his paws with an angry look. “I’m sure those kinds of havens exist, just…not here.”

“I think it’s the dungeon proximity, among other things,” Shen says. “Most Pokemon don’t know how to or don’t want to traverse dungeons, and exploration teams are scarce these days. I think there’s a few guilds left, some operating as resistance hubs even, but…” She shrugs. “Between them, the zombies in the old human cities, and the aliens, there’s little reason to leave town.”

“Still can’t believe it’s come to this,” Central says, ears folding back against his head. “Still keep thinking I’ll wake up back in that shitty bunk at our old HQ and find all this alien stuff was a terrible nightmare.” He lets out a deep sigh. “But I know that won’t happen.”

“We should get to sleep soon,” Shen says. “Better to get started on the trek early.”

Central hums, finishing his bowl of fruit before letting Shen take it. She gathers up all the bowls and the bag of supplies beside her and heads to make her way down to the engineering wing of the ship. Tygan taps the Luminous Orb, plunging them into darkness as he tucks it under a wing.

“You sure you want to sleep in the living quarters alone?” Shen asks Central. She always asks.

“Yeah,” he says. He always says this.

“Well, you know where to find me if you need me,” she answers, and splits away from him and Tygan. The two Pokemon walk to the living quarters together; Tygan standing in the doorway as Central flops down into a bunk adjacent to the floor. 

“I’ll have the maps out for you and Dr. Shen tomorrow before you leave,” he says. “I also did some foraging and found some seeds that you might want to bring along.” He shuffles a little foot to foot, looking as if he wants to say something else, but does not.

“Thanks, Tygan.”

“Sleep well.” 

The Noivern leaves Central to lie in the dark, staring into space.

When he dreams, the Lycanroc dreams of a different base, an underground facility left by humans long ago, with a big central room and a spinning holographic globe. 

From what they recovered from the ancient computers, the place was made in case of extraterrestrial contact-- a gathering place for special forces, for the world to respond. It never got used, until after the humans all died. Central, when he’s more intoxicated, thinks it’s funny in a sad way. What would the humans think of Pokemon in their place, dealing with something they never got to see? 

In any case, the base was nice. It was dark, and mostly metal like the ship is, but it was home. They were a guild, taking the name of that organization from the files -- XCOM. The explored dungeons and helped other Pokemon and for a long while, things were good. 

Then the aliens came. 

Central  dreams of days of first contact, fighting for the first time not dungeon rot infected Pokemon, but beings from another world. Beings that killed his teammates as brutally as infected did. Of the reports of strange readings in the old abandoned cities. Bringing back bodies to base, aliens and Pokemon, the research and engineering teams try to understand the equipment they received both from the field and the XCOM base. Of the inventions, of the coming together. 

Pokemon and exploration teams across the continents came to the base, offering their help, offering supplies, offering intel. He’d never seen anything like it before in all his time. 

He dreams of a Pokemon he can’t remember, but who led them all. A commander he grew close to, who confided in him-- I am a human. Then, Central didn’t really believe it. He, like many others, believed humans to be fairy tales. Sure, there were tall tales of past teams led by heroes that had been humans, but those were ancient and unconfirmable.

In any case, it was good. They weren’t winning, but the aliens seemed almost uninterested in them. They seemed more drawn to building shining city centers, sending their troops out into the wilderness, looking for--

At the time, they didn’t know. 

When XCOM found out, it was almost too late. Central responded to the call to defend the nearby cryogenic vaults, despite not knowing what was in them. He was one of the few survivors of that fight, and it cost them later-- the aliens overran the base, forcing the Pokemon to scatter across the world and go on the run.

He dreams of the aliens killing his Commander, right in front of him-- one of their big stout troops with the green plasma guns shooting them through the chest. 

He dreams of running, and running, of wanted posters as the aliens gained comradery with the general Pokemon populace and spun up lies about XCOM. As the years went on, Pokemon forgot about the world wide alliances, about a world without ADVENT’s guiding hand. 

He dreams, and when he wakes, he is exhausted, but the vaults require maintenance, so he gets to his paws and staggers out to the closed ramp where Tygan and Shen wait. Shen has their pack on her, and her robot at her side. Tygan hands her a couple of maps and a small bag as he approaches them. “Morning,” he says, voice grumbly from sleep,

“Good morning, Central,” says Tygan.

“Hey, Central,” says Shen. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” he answers.

”Good,” she says. She turns to Tygan. “Keep the ship safe, okay?” He nods as he presses the button to lower the ramp. Sirens blare and lights whirl as it goes down, and Tygan gives them a little wave when Central looks back from the bottom of it. 

They walk a few paces ahead into the dusty bottom of the canyon in which the ship lays, the ramp raising back up behind them. Shen stops to show Central the map, although at this point both of them know the routes and the maps are just a safety measure.

First they go up the side of the canyon, and then through a dungeon they’ve named “Lonely Fields'”, then through the local Pokemon town, toward the mountains. From there, they need to reach the mountains and go through a dungeon in the mountain pass -- aptly just called “Mountain Pass” -- and enter a cave. The cave itself is a dungeon, and at the end of it, begins the tunnel to the vault.

“Ok,” Central says, “let’s get going.” SHen tucks the maps away, checks her bag of supplies one more time, and then the two of them are off, together toward the high, gray mountains. 

[mcnostril]

So that XCOM: Chimera Squad footage was pretty good, but I did spend entirely too much time inspecting if the Vipers still had breasts.

For science, y'know.

Dr. Tygan worked hard to figure out what those were for.

Fun fact: HR in the future is a lot more hands-on and they would have done the same thing, so really snek lady saved everyone the paperwork.

[e350tb]

100 Words a Day - An Invaluable Asset

Very little has been heard of the so-called 'Crystal Gems' since the invasion. Some aboard this ship, myself included, initially believed they were a myth. The recovery of the fusion 'Stevonnie' proved otherwise. Medical examination of both Steven and Connie has revealed both to be physically unaged - their confinement in stasis appears to have been identical to that of the Commander. This discovery could prove a boon to X-COM. If we can find the remaining Crystal Gems, then we could easily join forces with them against ADVENT. As it stands, even a part-gem recruit could have enormous potential. - R. Tygan.

[etherealvoidechoes]

Hollowed Defiance - Chapter 5 (NEW) - Lost and Abandoned Pt.1

It was just the start of meeting between XCOM, the Reapers, and Skirmishers. But first they had to navigate there was through the not so dead city.

Another new chapter to insert in the beginning. More to come. Chapter list will be updated and I need to update all the parts posted here.

Ao3 LINK || Fic Wiki Hub

- Eventually. Want to have A Fine Red Mist Pt. 2 ready to be posted. Okay got that new chapter up so, several new chapters have been inserted. Still have a few more to do.

And this is long read. Just over 8k.

------

“Man, never liked these abandoned cities.” 

Rowdy spoke with a weary voice. His finger hovered shakily over the trigger of his shotgun as he scanned his surroundings. Just a dead, decaying city left over from the Old War. Littered with the remains of the unfortunate victims of the Invasion. 

“Ghosts running about.”

“Stop it with the ghost talk, Rowdy.” Marillion cut him off with a sharp tongue. Though her eyes wandered around, eyeing the mummified remains, influenced by Rowdy’s constant paranoia. Nothing looked out of place. “My Myrrh is picking up nothing…” She grumbled. Her Gremlin beeped accordingly as it flew around them. “Making me get all twitch…” 

“Can’t you hear it?” He glanced at her for a second. Those eyes quickly went back to scanning the area. “Just look at them!” He gestured to everything around them.

There was a howl in the air, but it was just the winds whipping through the buildings and broken windows. But those corpses were unsettling. Victims from the Invasion. All frozen in time. Bodies grayed, melted, and stricken to the bone. Doing their last tasks in life. Fleeing and hiding. Then those vines, webbing one could call it. They glowed a sickly green. It was everywhere, mostly covering the corpses, entangling itself into whatever it touched. But all of it came for those pods, those purple pods that rained down back in the past. A thick, glowing green gas hovered over some of them. As if they were still active.

“Cut it out!” She gave him a solid smack on his back. Nearly made the man fall over.

“Can you two get it together? Especially you, Rowdy.” Quiet shook her head. She was a few feet ahead of the two, not letting herself get distracted by the sights. She was used to it. And they were on a time limit.

“Like Quiet said, are you two done?” Central finally spoke up. “If so, less whining and more moving, Menace 1-3.”

“Will can it.” Marillion was more than happy to oblige. 

“Yeah, yeah sorry Central.” Rowdy grumbled.

“Firebrand and the second team are nearly at the second drop point. We have a schedule to keep.” He said.

It was just the start of this meeting. The team split into groups of two. One meeting with the Reapers’ contact and the other meeting with the Skirmishers’ contact. Quiet, Rowdy, and Marillion had the pleasure of meeting the Reapers. Hexx and Warlord would be meeting their Skirmisher contact.

“Hopefully whoever is the contact knows Kelly. A familiar face should ease tensions.” Central muttered under his breath as he watched the group head deeper into the city. He figured squeezing Kelly onto the mission would be best, and she was willing to oblige. Just extra insurance and she was fairly familiar with how the Reapers worked, having joined him on his outings to meet with Volk and the others throughout the years.

“Detecting increasing biological signatures in the area ahead. As well as that foreign radiation. Otherwise, everything looks normal.” Dr. Tygan joined in on the call. He, his team, and the Recon group were keeping tabs on anything strange that may appear on the scanners after talks with Betos and a few concerning rumors they had recently heard. Then a few things set off the scanners. Biological signs. Mutated and non-mutated DNA and unstable radiation. There was something living the dead city. The undead were what some sources claimed; they didn’t take kindly to intruders. Others said it was ADVENT making their cleansing sweeps to find any people still hiding out in the city. And there was always a chance it could be a Chrysalids hive. Nasty things.

“Then I’d say we’re in the right place.” Central said. Some good news. “Stay sharp out there tonight, people. Just because this city is abandoned doesn’t mean it’s lifeless.” Hopefully, everything would go well. No bandits, no ADVENT, no Chryssalids. Chryssalids. He shuddered just thinking about those bugs. Hated them just a bit more than the Vipers. 

“Last thing we need. Leo hates those things.” Said soldier was on the second team, meeting their Skirmisher contact. Hopefully, they wouldn’t run into those bugs.

As the three soldiers continued on their way, they stumbled across a fire. It was burning bright and there was something on it. A strange aroma tickled their noise. Smelled like meat. Bug meat. As they got closer, they could make it out. A Chryssalid head roasting over the fire. Looked like a fresh kill as yellow liquid dripped from it, sizzling in the fire. And the beheaded body was nearby sitting onto of a slab of concrete, and from the looks of it the empty carapaces of a few others were just behind it. Looked like someone was cracking open its legs to get to the meat within.

“We’re here.” Quiet said. “Definitely them.” She was unfazed by the sight.

“Ew.” Rowdy wrinkled his nose.

“The alien is food.” Marillion mumbled under her breath. “Ya seeing this, Central?” She adjusted her shoulder came.

“Clearly.” The sight did not surprise him. The usual M.O. for the Reapers. “Means they are around.”

“If you’re hungry, there’s more where that came from.” A muffled voice spoke.

The three quickly spun to their left, guns at the ready. Walking towards them was a person in a gray and black trench coat with armor underneath. A Vektor rifle on their back. A hood and gas mask were hiding their face.

“Ah, you. Outrider.” Quiet dropped her gun to her side, fully relaxing as she recognized them.

“Her?” Central asked. There was a hint of surprise in his voice.

“You know them?” Rowdy continued to eye this Outrider. Finger hovering over the trigger.

“Relax, this is our Reaper contact.” Quiet gestured for him to lower his gun. Marillion had dropped her gun, but kept her finger on the trigger just in case.

“Impressive reflexes. But unnecessary.” The Reaper continued. Things were still tense. They raised their hand to their face and removed the mask. Human. And female, from the looks of it.

“Stand down. We’re all friends here.” Central said. “That’s our contact… It’s been a while.”

“You know her, Central?” Rowdy mumbled into his mic. He finally lowered his gun.

“Yes, one of Volk’s top people. Ele—“

“Elena Dragonova.” Quiet said as she went over to her. “Long time no see.” She extended her hand.

“Jane Kelly. Likewise.” Elena gave her a slight nod and shook her hand.

“Also goes by Outrider, as you heard.” Central added. “Get her patched into our feed, Quiet.”

“You are safe here.” Just as she said that more Reapers emerged from the shadows. Some behind cars and debris. Others on the rooftops. In short, they were everywhere. “More so than you imagine.”

“Still the sneaky bunch.” Central shook his head as he chuckled. Amazing how well they could hide. The cameras on the soldiers barely picked them up until now. “Can’t wait until Shen and Ford finish working on those old floating bots we found and upgrade the scanners again.”

“Have I missed anything?” Commander Reeves asked. She was just a few feet behind him, walking at a swift pace. She was late, fiddling with her earpiece. A few health check-ups were to blame, but it was necessary. Better to get them over with now and not get the doctors dragging her out of there later and giving her a lecture.

“No, not much.” Central moved slightly to the side for her. “Quiet, Rowdy, and Marillion just met with our Reaper contact. Warlord and Hexx are on their way to meet our Skirmisher contact.” 

“Aton Järvi callsign Rowdy. Sara D’Cruz callsign Marillion. Jane Kelly callsign Quiet.” She muttered each soldier’s name under her breath. She was slowly working on cataloging each one in her memory. “Then Leo Arkwright, callsign Warlord. And Trish Ka’aukai, callsign Hexx.” She still wondered how Leo got that callsign. It did fit his aggressive personality. Questions for later and maybe she’d get an entertaining story too.

Eventually, she noticed the Reapers. Her eyes fell onto the one to who Quiet was handing an earpiece to. She recognized the face. Had seen it in the files. ”Elena Dragonova… Reapers, right?”

“We shall see if the same holds true for these Skirmishers of yours.” A sneer came from Elena as she took the earpiece from Quiet. She slipped it between her fingers, getting a feel for it. Examining it. No alien tech from what she could tell.

“Yes… her.” There was a terseness to his voice as he answered her question. How would this meeting go? “Oh, I can tell she’s more skeptical than Volk about this meeting.”

“Naturally.” Commander Reeves wasn’t too surprised to hear the heavy amount of venom in her voice. “When it comes to Skirmishers. Most Reapers have bad blood with them.”

A hellish, ghoul-like howl pierced the air. Several more howls and shrieks followed at the first.

“I knew it! I knew it!” In a heartbeat, Rowdy has his gun raised once more. Finger back on that trigger as he spun around, trying to find the source of the howl.

“So those rumors are true. Hm.” Central muttered. He knew those howls didn’t sound like the alien bugs. It was something else. 

“Rumors?” It wasn’t uncommon for some Chryssalids to make nests in abandoned cities. But the howl didn’t match the roars of those insects.

“Undead. And not the psionic or Chryssalid kind. Possible a result of the contagion… or something else the Elders caused.”

“What?”

Zombies? Not made from Chryssalids or the newer generation of Sectoids controlling the dead like puppets? He had to be joking. But from the seriousness on his face and the fact he was giving out some orders to scan the city told her he wasn’t. 

“What have the Elders done?” She grumbled under her breath. 

What monstrosity had they released to cause such a thing? Was it the ‘contagion’ she heard from the crew and read in the files? Initially, thought to be ADVENT propaganda to keep people from going to areas they had wardering off until some scouting groups found the burn areas and creatures infected by it. Strange crystalline growths littered their bodies and hair loss was rampant. Whatever it was, it baked their minds, turning them into living zombies that exploded like puffball mushrooms when shot.

Or was there something else that inhabited the city? Another plague for them to deal with? Hopefully not. To think they already had one thing to worry about for the now and the future.

“Wondering if that’s a slip up on Their part letting something on one of their ships escape or are They seeding some flora for something.” She couldn’t help but ponder on it.

Then something came to her mind as she scanned the monitors. Her eyes fell upon one of those vine-covered pods, still deeply embedded in the asphalt. Time had weathered those things; parts of the curved alien alloy were missing as if people had harvested the metal. And they looked to still be functioning. Glowing a subtle green.

“That gas they emitted…”

She remembered how the aliens bombed places in the Old World with those strange pods during abduction runs. Glowing a faint green and releasing some sort of gas-like fog. Victims nearby were always webbed up in some sort of green mucus and comatose. She couldn’t recall what the scientists said about it or what it was besides a way to disable humans for capture — mid-movement — but she always had a sinking feeling there was something more sinister to those things. What was it?

Maybe the contagion was related to those pods. Something for her to mull over later, to search her memories and the ship’s archives.Maybe they needed to track down one of XCOM’s old data centers again. If the aliens hadn’t found it, or some scavengers.

“Your presence already disturbs them.” Elena didn’t seem disturbed by the growling howls. Maybe there was a slight hint of annoyance on her face. Then again, an annoyed look seemed to be her resting face for the time. She gestured for her people to come over. A few did and broke down the camp. “My people will take care of this camp. We must move.”

As she moved, she finally put the earpiece in and placed her mask back on.

“Hello, John.” She said.

“Long time no chat, Elena.” He replied.

“I hope these Skirmishers of yours play nice.”

“They will if you do the same.”

“We’ll see about that.” She had strong doubts.

“They will hold their end of the deal.” Commander Reeves finally spoke up.

That was an unfamiliar voice to Elena’s ears. But how they spoke was firm and assertive.

“You must be this Commander Reeves.” She quickly deduced. 

“I am.”

“Hm.” So this was the person inside of that suit. She wondered if she would meet her in person one day. “We’ll see how this meeting goes.”

——————————

Elena effortlessly led Menace 1-3 through the city. Something that was natural for the Reapers. Were ever there was a Reaper camp in the world, they knew they knew the surrounding area like the back of their hands as they lived off the land and what was left after the Invasion. Especially the abandoned cities. A fine place to scavenge and a fine place to set up an ambush for ADVENT patrols that harassed their camps. 

Though the four continued on, they had a few bumps in the road. The source of the inhuman howls. The inhabitants of the city.

Not all victims of the Old War were still as statues. Some were alive. Living zombies from the looks of it. The Lost, Elena called them. Somehow these husks could still move and with questionably uncoordinated quickness. Tripping over whatever was in there way as they set sights on the squad. At least they were fragile and went down with a few well-placed shots to the head.

A comment from Tygan only reinforced Commander Reeves’ earlier thoughts that the pods were probably the source of a new contagion. The pods are still emitting trace elements of unstable radiation. And those traces are on the Lost. Most likely, their DNA has mutated from well beyond what we would classify as human. And who knew if the radiation was the only thing leaking from those things.

“Let’s get decontamination ready… just in case.” She didn’t want to risk anything getting onto the ship.

Central glanced at her. A brow was raised. “You think that’s necessary?”

“Better safe than sorry. We already know about that ‘crystalline contagion’ and Tygan says those pods are still active.”

He grumbled as he scratched his chin. So far, the former had caused no problems, but that could change at any point. And those pods were still active. “You’re right. Better safe than sorry.” He turned to his right. “Orion!”

Over on the other side of the room, a man with blinding black bangs and wearing a fluorescent orange turned. “Yeah, Central?”

“Tell the medical team to set up decontamination for the soldiers once they get back from the operation.”

He gave a thumbs up. “Got it.” 

The squad cleared out a few more packs of Lost as they reached their first destination. A clear route that would lead deeper into the city.

“For years my people hunted the Skirmishers and their kind.” Elena spoke her mind. “For years, we survived. Now, you all risk everything for your dreams of peace.”

Central couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “If you haven’t noticed, the aliens have been kicking our planet’s ass for the past 20 years. You think maybe it’s time we try something else?”

“Peace would be better than both groups continuing their senseless fighting.” Commander Reeves added. “Both sides will continue to wear each other thin and allow the Elders to wipe you both out with little resistance.”

“Tch.” Maybe they had a point. 

The squad reached their first destination. Central looked at the screens and the scans. Things were looking clear minus a few pings. More of those Lost. They knew they were there and wouldn’t probably keep coming if they weren’t careful.

“You should have a clear path through now, but keep your eyes peeled. The second squad is nearly to the Skirmisher. Proceed to the rendezvous and await their arrival and sign.”

As the four continued on their way, Commander Reeves shifted her attention to the others searching for their Skirmisher.

“Let’s see how the others are doing.”

——————————

Menace 1-2’s trek through the city was rather uneventful. So far, they hadn’t run into the Lost as they headed to the Skirmisher’s coordinates.

“Ugh, haven’t been in one of these rundown hellholes in ages.” Warlord grumbled in his Cockney accent as he adjusted his mask. He was jumpy as ever, but somehow less than Rowdy. No paranoia. Just cautiously watching out, ready for whatever could strike. “Bloody graves filled with walking dead.”

“Hope your tales about the walking dead aren’t true.” Hexx said. Though with the singsong manner, she said it in, along with nudging him a few times, sounded like she was teasing him.

“‘Ey!” He pointed at her. “I know what me and me crew saw back then wasn’t a figment of our imaginations.”

“Hey,” she shrugged, “we’ve run numerous scans on various abandoned cities and haven’t really encountered what you claim exists.” She shook her head. “Though ADVENT activity is sporadic, but high… which is weird.” She mumbled.

“Bet them wankers are gathering cadavers for experiments. Or trying to reclaim the cities they tore up.”

“How long are you two going to yap?” Central finally tuned to their channel.

“Hey Central, we’re almost at the rendezvous.” Hexx responded.

“Whoa! Look at this!” Warlord exclaimed.

Looking at his screen, there was a downed ADVENT dropship. Crashed from the looks of it. And had to be recent because of flames raging in and outside of it, along with a few ADVENT soldiers’ corpses around it.

Warlord was already over there in an instant, examining the wreckage. “Wonder what took this flying block down.”

“Had to be a rocket.” Hexx caught up with him. 

“Looks like trouble ahead.” Central didn’t like that. The Reapers dabbled in explosives, but that was just claymores. “The rendezvous could be compromised. Stay focused, check for —

BOOM

The ground shook as an explosion erupted from around the corner, followed by gunfire. 

“Contact! Head for cover!”

Looked there would be trouble for them.

Before they had time to react, something orange came running out of the smoke. The armor was definitely ADVENT. Couldn’t mistake that blocky geometric design. But something they hadn’t seen before. Fully enclosed orange armor. As quickly as they appeared, they stopped. Their body shuttered before being quickly jerked back into that thick smoke.

“We may have a bigger problem here.”

“Taking point!” Warlord quickly gestured for Hexx to move up to the car in front of her as he dashed towards a large tree.

“Got our sixes.” She quickly looked back. So far nothing was coming.

As they reached the corner, and the smoke cleared, they saw two people. That one in the orange armor slumped up against a dumpster. Orange blood dripped from them and splattered on the pavement. Then a figure in white armor stood before them, took off their helmet. 

“Hold your fire.” Central immediately recognized the design of the armor. Then that Kal-7 Bullpup hanging from their hip. Looked to be one of the assault rifle variants. The barrel was still smoking. “I believe that’s our man — well, our contact, anyway.”

“Kracsad.” A deep, male voice spoke. There was a slight echo to his voice. “Advent… ‘puppet’.” He kneeled down, placing a hand on the dazed soldier’s head. “Vox Tala For Ten.” The next second a pair of blades sprung from his right gauntlet, his Ripjack, that were then swiftly plunged into the neck of the soldier. Orange blood sprayed out; a cry was cut short. They struggled, grabbing at the arm.

“They were sent here to hunt, to purge the ‘Drak-ten’. The ‘Lost’.” Looked like he noticed company. He cast a slight glance at them as he held down the struggling soldier. With a twist and sickening crack, the soldier stopped struggling. Going slack. He retracted his blade, picking up his helmet.  

“Our meeting point is still secure.” He turned to face them.

“I like your style, mate.” Warlord chuckled. He eyed that bloodied gauntlet. He had to get one of those. Would compliment his blade nicely. “Nice work there.”

The Skirmisher raised a brow ridge. “Thank you?” Some human phrases and remarks were still foreign to the Skirmishers.

“Don’t mind him.” Hexx shook her head. “The name’s Hexx.” She extended her hand.

“Callsign’s Warlord.” Warlord pointed at himself.

“Hexx and Warlord.” The Skirmisher nodded. “Pleasure to meet you two. You may call me Pratal Mox.” He shook Hexx’s hand. “If all goes well, and in due time, I hope to learn your real names.”

“Hopefully, this meeting goes swimmingly.” Hexx gave a thumbs up.

“Tch.” Warlord snorted. “Want to get out of this hellhole.”

“Get him patched into our comms. His helmet should be able to tune in just fine.” Central said.

“Got it.” Hexx went to work sharing the codes with Mox.

“So my hunch was correct. Betos sent Mox. Hm…” Central’s eyes lit up, seeing and hearing him. A familiar face was welcoming. But there was a grumble trailing behind his words. He was surprised to see Mox’s armor was different. The last time he saw the Skirmisher, the armor he wore was onyx-colored. 

“Huh.” He couldn’t help but voice his surprise. Now he wore white armor, dirtied and dinged from many battles, no doubt. But why the color change? A question for later. There was something more important on his mind. “Or did he volunteer for this?”

“And I feel like Elena is going to react poorly?” Commander Reeves asked, hearing his grumbling. Recalling a few entries in their archives, she remembered Mox led several cleansing campaigns against the Reapers.

“Most likely, yes.” He shook his head. Of all the people to choose from, both sides chose the worst candidates to meet. “We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

“I see. Hopefully, neither take shots at each other once they reach the railway platform.”

“Hopefully.”

“Well, she,” Mox gestured to the dead soldier behind him, “is free of the imposter gods. I would give anything that all my kind could say the same. Even sit down with your… Reapers.” There was a hint of worry in his voice, but his face stayed plain.

“Menace 1-3 and our Reaper contact are almost to the rendezvous.” Central said.

“Ah, Central. Bradford.” Mox was happy to hear a familiar voice. “How are you holding up?”

“Holding up fine. We can catch up later, Mox. We have a schedule to keep.”

“Agreed.” He nodded. No time for chatting. He checked his Bullpup. A quick reload and he was ready for another fight. “Now, we must go.”

“Alrighty! Lead the way.” Warlord was ready to go.

The trio headed deeper into the city. 

And into some trouble.

 ——————————

“Rendezvous with Menace 1-3 and Outrider is further ahead. Proceed through this district as quickly as possible, but be careful. Something tells me this city still has a few more surprises to throw our way.”

That downed ship and odd-looking ADVENT soldier Mox killed was still fresh in Central’s mind as he watched the trio move. Also the Lost, but so far this part of the city wasn’t crawling with them.

“There will be more Purifiers as we move.” Mox said. So that was the name of that soldier type.

“Don’t remember ever seeing them before.” He still couldn’t recall ever coming across one with gear like that.

“Mala’tek.” Commander Reeves chimed in. She brought up a picture of the Skirmisher in question. “Though it’s heavily modified.”

“Huh?” He looked at the image. Same armor, but heavily modified. “Ah, can’t believe I forgot that.”

“Who is the one speaking of Mala’tek?” Mox asked. A new voice he was unfamiliar with.

“Mox, this is the —“

“I’m the Commander.” She felt like she could introduce herself. Central just shook his head and chuckled. “Commander Reeves.”

“Ah, the fabled Commander we helped XCOM find.” He was surprised he was speaking to her. “Glad to hear our efforts were not in vain.”

“You have my deepest gratitude for helping my people.” She could thank all the factions involved enough. 

“Back to the Purifiers.” Mox raised his hand, causing Hexx and Warlord to stop. He then pointed out a patrol up ahead by some shipping containers. 

Two more ADVENT soldiers in that orange armor. They were armed with what looked to be flamethrowers. Which was rather evident from the charred remains of some Lost near them. Looked like the things were vulnerable to fire. A note for future missions in places littered with them.

“I’ll go to the high ground.” He pointed at a nearby shipping container he could climb. “Careful with their tanks. Highly volatile. Will explode at the slightest rupture. Best to keep the noise down with the Lost about.”

“Keep some distance, got it.” Warlord nodded. “I’ll swing from the side. Bit of a pincher maneuver.” He was already moving to the left and around the container Mox was going to climb.

“I’ll be by the truck.” Hexx said as she moved up and used the right side of the truck as cover. She switched over to her rifle and locked one Purifier in her sights.

 “The Purifiers…You were not meant to see them.” Mox continued climbing and got himself into position.. “Purifiers were created with a singular purpose: to contain the Dark-ten, the Lost.”

“Also to control other plagues and pathogens running rampant on the Earth.” Commander Reeves added a slight correction. “The Elders try to keep a low profile with them. Keep the populous from ‘worrying’.”

“Correct. That too is another issue they are utilized for.” Mox nodded. “The Elders have been sloppy and have many messes that even They struggle to eradicate.”

Central turned to her, muting his mic for a moment. “How did you know that?” They had information on the various burn teams trying to contain the ‘crystalline contagion’, but Purifiers were mostly new to them.

She thought for a moment. Her eyes widened. How did I? As quickly as the information came to her mind, it left. Now unreachable. “I… I just do.” She didn’t know.

“Hm.” Questions for later. He turned his mic back on.

“Ready to pull the trigger.” Warlord was in his spot. Just a few steps forward and he was the perfect distance to nail one of them. “The one to the left is mine.”

“Don’t get cocky.” Hexx shook her head. She kept her aim notched onto the Purifier Warlord was targeting. Just in case she had to clean up his mess if he missed.

“I’ll take the one on the right. On your mark.” Mox was ready.

Warlord let out a whistle as he stepped out of cover and moved just a bit closer to them. 

“Hey! Hey! Tin Can!” And a taunt. As one Purifier turned to investigate, he grinned. “Gotcha!” He pulled the trigger.

Before the Purifier could react, it was thrown back, losing grip on its flamethrower, as the buckshot collided with its chest, piercing part of its armor. A muffled, almost choked, sound came from them as they hit the ground. The other Purifier quickly snapped too, turning towards their attacker. It let loose a plume of fire in Warlord’s direction.

“Ah, shit!” Warlord quickly dove into nearby cover, barely escaping being burned.

Mox let off a few volleys, tagging the second Purifier but most of his shots bounced off the metal. A few found their way between the plates, but the Purifier was unfazed. They turned their head towards Mox, keeping a steady flame in Warlord’s direction. 

A Skirmisher. A Traitor. It stared at him for quite some time. Like it was studying him. Processing what to do next. Why is he up there? They already had another pinned down. But… but was there another? Skirmishers were pack fighters. The fire stopped. Cutting its attack short. The Purifier quickly doubled back, heading further up the road. Not worth the risk.

“We have a runner.” Mox said as he fired at them again.

“I got them.” Hexx scoped in, carefully watching the Purifier’s movements. Waiting for the right shot. Waiting for a clear view of their head and what looked to be the most vulnerable part of that helmet. Black glass. There it is.   

BOOM.

But just the slightest turn to check if they were being pursued shifted that canister on their back in the bullet's path. Just the slightest nick to that fuel tank and the Purifier erupted into a fireball.

“Crap!” She didn’t mean to hit the tank. Especially after Mox’s warnings.

“Definitely know to keep my distance.” Pulling himself up from his cover, he barely glimpsed the explosion. But sure felt the heat.

Distance, inhuman howls could be heard shortly after the explosion.

“Fuckin’ knew it.” Warlord cursed under his breath. Finally, those things were making themselves known. He quickly reloaded his gun.

“What the heck?” Hexx looked around but saw nothing. Those howls just didn’t sound right. Never heard something like that before. She quickly made her way over to Warlord. She noticed the burned remains of the Lost. Something else she hadn’t seen before. May have been connected to those howls. “Guess you were right about something being here.”

“Need to stop doubting me, sis.” He chuckled. “Be ready for a fight. Tap them heads real good.”

“It was inevitable.” Mox didn’t sound disturbed. Almost as if he expected that to happen. He hopped off the container and headed over to the Purifier Warlord had downed. He noticed they moved. “That has drawn the Lost’s attention.”

“Get going now!” Central barked. He didn’t want them to linger and get surrounded by a horde of Lost.

After making sure the first Purifier was dead, the trio continued on their route. The ghoul-ish howls of the Lost increased as they moved.

But just ahead, they met a roadblock.

——————————

Really, it was more than a roadblock.

“This is no patrol. It’s an army.” Central gawked at the sight.

Ahead of the squad, further down the street, were several Purifiers at work, burning a horde of Lost. And there was a single Officer overseeing them all. There was no way they could get past them without trouble.

“The Elders are pouring in quite a bit of manpower here, I see.” Commander Reeves noted. How much trouble were the Lost to the Elders?

“Yes.” Mox didn’t seem disturbed by the sight as he quickly took it in. He noticed the fuel tanker near the patrol. Perfect. “One we do not have time to face.” He moved forward. He needed a better shot.

“Hey! Hey! Hey!” Even though he could have some crazy ideas, Warlord didn’t like the fact Mox was moving, aiming his Bullpup at the mess ahead of them. No way they could take them all on. “Don’t—” Before he could stop him, Mox pulled the trigger.

Several of those bullets found their target. Piercing the canister on the back of one of those Purifiers. A jet of flame erupted from their back, causing them to twirl and stumble closer to that tanker.

“Oh, no.” Hexx’s eyes trembled.

“EVERYONE GET BACK!” Central did not like what he was seeing.

“SHITE!” Warlord was already moving back into cover. As he passed Hexx, his fingers found their way into her collar and jerked her along with him. She let out a yelp as he tossed her into cover first before diving after her. 

Mox use of one of those pods as cover and the crater it was in.

BOOM

That Purifier went off, taking the tanker with it. The entire street shook several times, as the other Purifiers went off like fireworks, sweeping the street with flames. The charred remains of ADVENT and Lost alike were flung in the air.

“Geez! A warning next time, man!” Warlord peeked from cover as he felt the heat dissipate. Though he had to admit that was a quick way of solving the problem. But knew it would lead to a bigger one.

As he helped Hexx up — who was thanking him for the quick save — he held back a gag as the smell of burnt flesh permeated the air. He was used to the smell of burned flesh, but something about what was left of the Lost burning just smelt wrong.

“There was no time.” Mox said. He was already reloading his weapon.

“The Purifiers may be down, but unfortunately, that was our extraction point.” Central noted. One issue was down, but now they had another problem. He was already directing the crew to find another point.

“I fear that is not the worst of it.” Tygan was back. “Multiple biological signatures rapidly on approach to your position.”

“Don’t tell me…” Central had a feeling of what it was. The smaller explosion earlier already stirred the horde, and now this one probably woke up the entire damn city.

“The Lost, the sounds of combat excite them. They are drawn to it.” Mox said.

“And you just blew up a fuel truck?!” To say he was ticked would be an understatement.

“There was no other choice.” Already Mox was already firing at the first wave of the restless dead. “Find an alternate exit. We will deal with the Lost.” He looked over at Warlord and Hexx. “You two, get to higher ground. Make them work for their meal.”

“Did he just say what I think he said?” Hexx looked at Warlord. She was already heading for higher ground. 

“Yep.” He snickered. “And I’ve got a better idea.” Warlord put his shotgun onto his back and grabbed his blade. 

“You can’t be serio—“

“I’m quick on my feet and dealt with these gobbers before.” He eyed a nearby approaching horde. “I’ll be the bait! You two better be good shots!” Like a madman, he charged at the horde.

“Don’t get cocky!” Hexx chided him. She could only imagine the grin under his mask.

“What the hell, Warlord?” Commander Reeves couldn’t believe her eyes. Then she noticed something. “Did he turn off his earpiece?”

“He’s a wildcard.” Central shook his head. “He does that when he feels like he’s going to get yelled at. Doesn’t save him from the consequences when he gets back.”

But like Warlord said, he was quick on his feet. He weaved in and around the horde, slashing down any that got in his way. And as he did that, he led them around the containers Mox and Hexx were using to keep their distance. It was working like a charm. Mox and Hexx were mostly undisturbed, having to put down the occasional one that noticed them, as they fired away at the horde chasing the bait.

Central let out a few grumbles, still a little ticked at the snafu Mox caused, before barking out a few commands to the Bridge staff to find an alternative route. He would chew Mox out later for such a brash decision, even if it did clear out the initial problem.

The trio held their position, fighting off wave after wave of Lost as an alternative route was being found. It felt like ages as they held out for the new route. Looked like the shock waves had agitated all the Lost throughout the city. But Warlord bounced around the battlefield like lightning. Letting out a few howls of laughter as his adrenaline was high. He got clawed at a few times, but barely felt it. He was having the time of his life. And the Lost were weak. But if you got surrounded, you would be a goner.

“We’ve found a new route that should get you to the rendezvous point safely. The Lost are still converging on this are so make it fast.”

But that sweet voice of Central’s brightened their spirits. They were on the way there with great haste. 

Commander Reeves shook her head as she watched everything unfold. The Lost seemed to be sensitive creatures. Ready to pounce on anything that disturbed them. 

“Massive note for any future operations that take place in a city like this — hell, I recall a few towns that were bombed with these pods.” She shook her head. “Explosives are HEAVILY restricted.” 

“Agreed.” Central nodded.

——————————

The trio reached their destination with few encounters with the Lost.

“Rendezvous point directly ahead. Let’s try and play nice today, people.” Central’s voice played on the comms of all.

The abandoned trains. The railway platform. That’s where the meeting would take place. They headed to the west side, made their way up the stairs, and climbed into their train.

“Menace 1-2 and Mox should be in position shortly.” He then spoke to just Menace 1-3 and Elena.

Music to their ears. No more waiting. Menace 1-3 and had parked themselves inside of the abandoned train on the east side of the platform.

Marillion broke out a flashlight and flashed it, making signals towards the chain on the west side. A few seconds later, a light flashed back at them.

“We’re good to go.” She put away her light and made her way off the train. Quiet and Rowdy did the same.

But Elena didn’t move.

“Mox?” Did she hear what he said correctly? Mox? Pratal Mox? An anger welled inside of her.

She took her Vektor rifle off her back and quickly checked to see if what he said was true. Peering down the scope, she saw the two XCOM operatives getting off the train and then someone behind them. A Skirmisher clad in white armor with their helmet off. She zoomed in. Mox. She gritted her teeth. It was him. She would never forget that face. ADVENT… No, he… took so much away from her. 

She let out a series of curses as she slammed her fist against the floor. 

“John! How dare you people!?” She cursed at him. “Mox’s death squads wiped out entire camps of my people in the first years of the war!”

“There we go.” Central mumbled under his breath. He was waiting for that. Couldn’t hide Mox’s identity forever. “Pretty sure hands are bloody on both sides of this fight. That’s the whole point of this intervention.”

“And Betos desires the senseless blood feud to stop. And so does Volk.” Commander Reeves added. “If it continues, the Reapers and Skimishers will wipe each other out without the Elders having to lift a finger. Do you want that to happen?”

She grumbled. Supposedly Volk’s wishes. She just had to trust his judgment. And the same with this Commander Reeves. 

“If he slips just once, I won’t hesitate to kill him.” Her anger didn’t let up as she ripped off her mask. He would see her face. 

She finally got off the train but didn’t holster her rifle. Just in case.

——————————

Elena marched down the platform, fire in her eyes and an equal amount in her steps. She kept a steady finger hovering over that trigger as she came to Mox.

“Hey, keep your rifle down.” Marillion noticed how she was holding her rifle and went to knock it down. Elena ignored her, quickly side-stepping out of her reach, and continued on her way.

Mox, on the other hand, was walking calmly but was still cautious. He held a tight grip on his Bullpup and a finger hovered over the trigger; he took notice of Elena swift march towards him. He stilled himself. Hostility. He could sense it. Just from the way Reaper walked and held that rifle, he knew the slightest misstep could end up with a bullet planted in his skull. He just had to be careful, even more so with his words.

“So… ADVENT’s most brutal Captain comes to atone for his crimes.” Nearly every word that left her mouth dripped with venom.

Mox’s face stayed plain as the accusation was thrown at him. It was true, but now was not the time to dwell on that past. One he had little control over. “I am no longer that being. I am free now.”

“Ha!” She scoffed. “Taking off that helmet does not change what you are. Reapers have long memories.” She closed her eyes as she said that. So many of her people lost over the years because of them. She opened them again, eyes instantly focused on him. “Elder Kracsad.”

His brow twitched, lips contorting into a frown as a deep grumble came from his throat. “Rrgh…” That word got him. Such a loathsome word. He let his Bullpup fall to his side. “Rrrgh!” He snarled at her. Releasing the blades in his Ripjack, but holding his stance. He was ready to pounce on her. 

With little hesitation, Elena swiftly aimed her rifle at him. Finger lightly pulling the trigger. Just one twitch.

“Elena!” Quiet swiftly moved over to her, and tried to push her rifle down. Elena just shoved her away and the same with the others attempting to pull her back. 

“Hey! Hey! Hey!” Warlord was already trying to pull  Mox’s arms down and Hexx was trying to pull him back.

Everyone was trying to diffuse the situation.

The opposing Faction kept their eyes focused on each other. Waiting for the other to make the first strike.

“Keep them from killing each other.” Commander Reeves ordered. She wasn’t pleased things were breaking down so quickly.

“Dammit, you two.” Central shook his head as he rubbed his face. He had a feeling this would happen. The worst set of people either faction could have sent for this meeting.

“I may be able to back you up, but you know these two factions better than me.” She said. “You know Elena better than me.” He nodded. He had an idea.

“The way I see it, we have two options.” His mind was quickly formulating a plan. “Join forces and kick the Elders off our world. Or kill each other here and now. The choice is yours.“

Mox listened to his words. We are here for peace and freedom. He had to remind himself of that. He couldn’t let her words get to him. Especially Kracsad. He was no longer that and would rather die than become that once more. The blades quickly snapped back into the gauntlets with a solid clink. He shifted back into a more relaxed posture, somewhat shaking Warlord’s and Hexx’s hand off of him. But he kept a close eye on Elena. Especially that rifle.

Elena rolled her eyes as Central spoke. This thing needs to die here and now for all he had done. Bitter thoughts swarmed through her mind. Her finger tightened on the grip before suddenly relaxing. She let out an angry sigh. Volk sent me here not to fight. She needed to play nice. She finally lowered her rifle. Don’t need Volk killing me for starting a true civil war. Though she wanted to blow Mox’s brains out right then and there, that plan had to wait. She would have her revenge.

“That’s better.” Central said. Commander Reeves agreed.

“Wait.” Elena squinted her eyes. Refocusing them on Mox. Like lightning, she raised her rifle once again, looking down the sights. Something caught her eye.

“Shit.” Central cursed under his breath. “Elena don’—”

BANG!

Before he finished his sentence, she pulled the trigger. She fired. But not at Mox. There was something just behind him and the others.

As Mox sprung his blades once more, he noticed the trajectory of the bullet was off. Reapers had good aim. Something wasn’t right. As he turned, just behind him, a tall figure flickered into existence. It quickly dove back, its cloaking swiftly kicking back on.

“The hell?” Central said.

“Who is that?” Commander Reeves said.

“What the!?” Warlord hopped back, quickly grabbing his shotgun from his back. “One of them!?”

And soon everyone else was on guard.

“We’ve got company.” Elena said as she fired again. “A Chosen.”

“Her!” Mox knew exactly what it was. His eyes darted around. Eyes and ears focusing. They picked up the slight hint of footsteps dashing about to avoid Elena’s shots. “There.” He heard something over by the railing to the left. “Got you.” He fired his grappling hook in that direction.

This time the being fully de-cloaked, as a swift strike of their blade knocked away the hook and another strike deflected a bullet. They were tall, double the height of a normal human. And they had blue skin. Their armor was black with some red. And on their chest was a symbol; the golden symbol of the Elders.

“Assassin Jax-Rai!” Mox cried out in anger.

“A Chosen?” Commander Reeves’ eyes went wide as the being decloaked.

“One of those damn things here!?” Central was shocked.

Jax-Rai bared sharp teeth, growling at them, as she sheeted her bade. “No one has ever done that before…” She spoke with a harsh voice. Backing ever so closer to the edge of the platform. “No one shall ever do that again!”

“Concentrate fire on that thing now!” Central barked. He didn’t want to take any chances.

But before they could even react, the imposing figure dove backward off the side of the platform. That cloak of her reactivating. Purple mist enveloped her as she disappeared below. Fragments of that mist drifted away in the wind.

“One of those damn things is here…” Central shook his head. This was bad.

“Jax-Rai.” Commander Reeves muttered the name. Seemed so familiar to her, but she wasn’t sure why.

“What the hell was that thing?” Rowdy asked. He was twitchy as he looked around, wondering if that Assassin would pop up behind him.

“A Chosen.” Warlord said as he carefully looked over the railing. “One of them fuckin’ Ch—“ 

“Vox Prima. Elder Assassin. Jax-Rai Ri’vi. A Chosen” Mox was scanning the area below them. So far, nothing but the dust and the dead. “Relentless death that stalks my kind. Butcher of freed ADVENT.”

“My people face another like her.” Elena said.

“Kon-Ris, the Hunter.” Commander Reeves said. Another name familiar to her and she didn’t know why.

“Yes… Him.” There was an odd pause in her voice. “They are undying. The Elders’ curse upon us.” 

Elena cast a glance at Mox. There was a fierce anger in his eyes as he scanned the area for the Assassin. Anger and… loss. Maybe the two weren’t that different. They both had the Elders’ demons hunting their people. She faintly remembered rumors of this Jax-Rai. Though the Reapers kept their distance from Skirmisher territory, a few sects had “pleasant” interactions with them. Tch. She couldn’t believe some of her people trading with them. Maybe that’s why there was a loose form of ‘peace’ between the factions.

But occasionally, a hunting party would stumble across a Skirmisher camp. The entire camp would be decimated. Each Hybrid cut down with clean strikes. Their bodies were dragged into the huts, arranged in some sort of strange ritual. Bodies lined up like spokes in a wheel. Feet out, heads touching at the center. Their foreheads were marked with marked with a word they came to learn was ‘traitor’. And there would be a message written on the walls. I AM THE ASSASSIN.

She had to admit she was mildly jealous. At least this Assassin was much “cleaner” than the Hunter. He gutted her kind like they were animals. Like some sort of mad ritual to torment those who found the bodies.

“We must combine strength if we are to have any chance of success of surviving.” She looked at Mox and then the XCOM squad.

“Agreed.” Mox nodded. He was putting his helmet back on.

“And we’ll need a helluva lot of luck.” Warlord shook his head.

“Everyone stay on your guard.” Central said. He was directing people on the Bridge to see if they could home in on the Assassin. He was already contacting Firebrand to prepare for evac. Tangoing with the Chosen would be a massive risk. They needed a quick exit.

“You are welcome to try.” Jax-Rai hissed. Her voice was both close and distant.

“Tch.” You can’t hide from me. “I’ll sniff her out.” Elena put her mask back on as she headed over to the edge. Eyes quickly scouting the area for a perch and anything that looked out of place. There. Her eyes fell onto a fire escape across from her. That would be the perfect vantage point.

“Watch my back.” She said as she headed over to a pipe. She slid down it and swiftly made her way to the fire escape.

“I’m heading down.” Mox said. He went down the pipe on the other side of the platform.

“The usual team split? Maelstrom and System Shock?” Quiet looked at her squamates. They all nodded and split into their respective groups. Marillion went over to Warlord and Hexx, while she and Rowdy stuck together. They made their way down to the streets below.

“We should keep distance between us.” Mox said as he cautiously moved from cover to cover. Head jerking at the slightest creak of metal from the abandoned vehicles. He could barely hear her footsteps. “The Assassin wi—“

“Cut through all of you with a swift strike with a searing psionic wave.” Commander Reeves said. “She dances through the battlefield with ease, for it is her domain. The thrill of a good fight drives her bloodlust.”

“Mhm. Correct.” Mox nodded. “The blade is her brush. Bloodshed is her art.”

Central looked at her, brows raised. “How do y—“ 

“I just do.” She cut him off, voice slightly annoyed. She didn’t know why this information kept coming to her, but it did. Questions for later. “Don’t let your guard down for a second.”

“Show yourself.” Elena finally made it to her perch. Rifle raised in her steady hands and surveying the area. “You will not hide from me.”

[xcommatriarch]

.........oh no. How much do you think Jake gossips about the rest of the Resistance in barely-masked language ie; "Stanford" (in particular, about Moxrider, and other couples in the Resistance, and individuals aside from the Commander/totally-not-the-Commander) and how often does he get chewed out/physically threatened for it XD

Let's say, Middle Official Stanford is really good at teaching others not to spill the tea on air, if said others make little to no effort to censor themselves. Especially when said others lose all common sense and start gossiping about the XCOM Commander, whoever they may be, being in a relationship with XCOM's token ethereal hybrid. I mean, the gossip did end up beneficial for keeping the Commander's identity protected and not associated with Ensoi's undercover persona after all... Jake still got punched in the gut for it.

(Bradford wanted to do this for so long, you have no idea)

If you think that stopped Jake from being a gossip machine - lol, nope! But he did make an effort to be more subtle about the people he's gossiping about. Moxrider in particular is his OTP, he is the main shipper, he is writing fanfiction and that is not a joke. Neither Dragunova nor Mox are called by their names, or even factions, but, really... When Jake starts yapping about forbidden romance on the battlefield, Romeo and Juliet style, we all know who he has in mind.

Still, sometimes he's just too damn goofy and obvious, even when he tries not to. Remember that "penmanship" incident? The next note with the same request he gets is written more neatly, clearly by someone else, and instead of a name it's signed with "Jake, for the love of god, shut the fuck up, or I'm telling Brad-Stanford". His dumb ass reads that part aloud too.

He quickly gets accustomed to hearing Bradford growling "Jake..." whenever the Avenger communicates with him, before officer sighs heavily and tries his goddamn best to politely tell Jake to keep his mouth shut, or that punch won't be the last, he swears to god, how can Jake be this fucking stupid despite being a radio host for so long, FUCK. Jake, although threatened, thanks the universe that Bradford can't see his shit-eating grin right now.

Cue the sheer horror he feels when he sees not only Bradford, but the entire squad of the officer, Chit-Chat, Dr. Tygan and a couple of soldiers rapidly approaching the shack he's living in/streaming from. Oh, that's not good, that is NOT good. He fucked up big time, it seems, hell, Bradford is fully armed, too!

^ and then they push Victor forward and tell Jake that's his new radio buddy for some time. Yes, he's exactly who he looks like. Yes. Ye- Jake, shut up and listen. We leave him here to keep an eye on you, and we expect you to keep an eye on him as well. Good? Good.

The amount of gossip lowers down significantly after that, much to Bradford's delight. Though, it turns into Jake being all lovey-dovey on air, but, eh... you win some, you lose some.

[roadsterguysblog]

Dear Yuletide Author

You are amazing, and thank you so much for this!

I have details for each specific request below the general things.  So, General Things:

My prompts are just that, prompts to get your brain spinning.  If you have a great idea for a fic that isn’t on the prompts, or one of them sends you off on a tangent, write that!  The best fics come from what moves the author.

For general guidelines, though - I love plot.  I love something interesting and canonical going on that I can really sink my teeth into.  If you write that, and you’re not into slash/ship, then that is amazing and makes my Yule.  I love writing that fills in the world of these wonderful fandoms.  There’s nothing better than a little line or unexpected note that answers a question that canon didn’t - what’s the bathroom like?  What do they drink in the morning?  How do they get the news? 

I like first-time fic.  I love a lot of UST and slow burn and people unable to just say what they’re feeling, until something happens and it does.

I’m a physical H/C FIEND.  I love some nice bloody hurt and some nice stoic comfort. I love that combined with the above.

I love a crusty old bastard with a heart of gold.  Even if they happen to be young (a young person can pull off a Crusty Old Bastard if they put the work into it).  It’s my kink.

I love explicit, in-character sex.  If you’re feeling sex, bring that on!  Bring on every bit of sex, good and bad - teeth bumping, coming too fast because this has been such a long burn, santorum, sweat and hot kisses and oral leading to anal or whatever.  Bring it on.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown/Enemy Within (Video Game) 

I came to this game as an old-school player of XCom:UFO Defense. I really love the narrative additions that they made, and particularly Bradford as a character. I found Zhang and Durand to be great additions to this game too! I particularly love Durand's dialog on missions. She's such a goofy deadly little kid. I like the vague hints at Zhang's past, and would really love to explore that more.

I couldn't choose 'all of XCom' as a fandom, so I chose EW. My 'stretch' ask, then, is for some inclusion of the Legacy missions, XCom 2, and/or War of the Chosen with Zhang/Bradford slash - I love the development of XCom as a guerilla group, I love the classes (particularly Rangers!). I love that Bradford was a Ranger and that he fought as one in Legacy and 2. I'd love to see where Zhang was in 2, maybe even a reunion after the events of 2 and before/during Chimera Squad.

If you're looking to write just EW, that would be fantastic too! I'd very much like some in-EW Bradford/Zhang slash. I'm not one for PWP; I love a good juicy narrative. I love the canon, as discussed above, and would really like a fic that builds off of canon. And there's so much! The downtime between missions and the rapid gear-up for them. Bradford trying to figure out anything about Zhang. Zhang and Durand training - Zhang has the experience killing people but no experience with psionic powers, while powers and fighting are both new to Durand, so there's a lot of possibility there. In-mission and/or post-mission fic. Fic during/after the Base Invasion or the Final Mission. Testing out stuff that Shen is making. Being tested by Vahlen. Or anything else you want to explore!

If you're not into slash, that would be fantastic too! I love a good juicy genfic with a lot of great narrative. All of the stuff I mentioned above! If you want to write a fic from the PoV of some random soldier, that'd be delightful too! Or any canon exploration/gapfiller that grabs you that you want to write!

Do Not Want: Durand/Bradford shipping. I just don't see them as a couple at all and the age difference wigs me. I'm fine with them interacting; in fact, one of the things I love about Durand is how much of an Excited Little Kid she is on the missions! So an older battle-hardened dude helping settle her down and give some guidance would be a nice plotline, and platonic affection would be totally good. Ditto Durand/Zhang - platonic relationship is great, just not romantic/sexual.

Too much Commander. I realize that's a little vague, but since the Commander is the headspace of the player, having too much of their thoughts might pull me out? I'm fully there with the Commander being present to direct missions, chatting around with people, being supportive of characters during the fic, serving as Commander Ex Machina to move the plot along, things like that.

Scat/piss play (I'm fine with playing with the blood (human and/or alien) and sweat of battle as being either potentially sexy or a strange counterpoint to sexiness)

Out-of-character-ness

Homophobia/transphobia/racism by the main characters. As a gay trans dude, I am very down with any of them being gay/trans/queer/etc and experiencing it, and I'm even OK if they accidentally find that some of their activities are - but just no overt, knowing bigotry. (Bradford does have xenophobic tendencies, and I'd actually find that a cool angle to explore, as I think he's a fundamentally decent guy who's had a fuck of a time and suffers from some degree of toxic masculinity.)

XCOM 2 (Video Game)

I came to this game as an old-school player of XCom:UFO Defense. I really love the narrative additions that they made, and particularly Bradford as a character. I love the world of XCom2 - they do such a wonderful job of building Advent's Stepford Cities, the scattered resistance havens, XCom as a guerilla group, the Speaker, the various aliens, the Chosen, the classes of warriors, Lily Shen's badassery, Dr Tygan's smooth stoicism, Advent Burgers (ARE PEOPLE!) - all of it!

I couldn't choose 'all of XCom' as a fandom, so I chose XCom2. My 'stretch' ask, then, is for inclusion of some EW plotlines - particularly Zhang, because I loved him as a character. I love me some Braford/Zhang slash, so if you want to pull him in - see what he was doing in parallel at the time, or reunion after 2/during Chimera Squad - I would be just delighted.

If you're not into writing that or didn't play EW, an XCom2 fic would be fantastic! I loved Legacy, I loved 2 (with the missions Shen and Bradford do), I loved WotC. There's so much there! I love that Bradford was a Ranger (I'd be delighted for fics of him getting down and dirty and bloody with a sword), I loved that Tygan had a Thing for Advent Burgers, I loved that Bradford got mad that the wrappers kept getting left around. I loved that Shen and Tygan kept giving Bradford shit for his flying. I think it's interesting that Bradford turned alcoholic after the base invasion, and I'd be interested in explorations of that, and if he started to get control of it when the Avenger took off and things started to go well. I love the Skirmishers, I love Mox - I'd love some more of their backstory, and/or how things go for them after the events of the game. (Generally, any Adaption To Civilian Life And Living Amongst The Aliens sort of fic really tickles me). If you want to write a fic from the PoV of some random soldier, that'd be delightful too! Or even the PoV of a young civilian who has known nothing but Advent and slowly realizes what's going on. Basically, anything that fleshes out/extends/expands the wonderful rich canon of this game.

Do Not Want: Shen/Bradford shipping. I love love love them as a Surly Old Loving Dad and Spunky Smart Loving Kid, so I love that dynamic, and would love to read some of them awkwardly expressing their mutual affection on that level, but just no to romance or sex.

Too much Commander. I realize that's a little vague, but since the Commander is the headspace of the player, having too much of their thoughts might pull me out? I'm fully there with the Commander being present to direct missions, chatting around with people, being supportive of characters during the fic, serving as Commander Ex Machina to move the plot along, things like that.

Scat/piss play (I'm fine with playing with the blood (human and/or alien) and sweat of battle as being either potentially sexy or a strange counterpoint to sexiness)

Out-of-character-ness

Homophobia/transphobia/racism by the main characters. As a gay trans dude, I am very down with any of them being gay/trans/queer/etc and experiencing it, and I'm even OK if they accidentally find that some of their activities are - but just no overt, knowing bigotry. (Bradford does have xenophobic tendencies, and I'd actually find that a cool angle to explore, as I think he's a fundamentally decent guy who's had a fuck of a time and suffers from some degree of toxic masculinity.)

Ship Series - Anne McCaffrey

What can I say, I'm a Helva/Niall shipper. That being said, I think there's a lot that's dysfunctional about their relationship. The way chastity is valued so highly, the way that she thinks of herself as a chaste armored Valkyrie (the armor protecting her equally from both sex and physical harm). The awkwardness around any thought of physical contact - and yes, it's dangerous for her to be outside of the shell, but there are so many workarounds. Her shell is wired for sensation, after all, there's no reason that creative ways to make love to a ship couldn't be played with. And they never do anything around physical intimacy with their mental connection, even though it's explicitly written that Helva can sense what Niall does.

I'm also very skeeved by the way she turns off his hologram after he's dead. The hologram seems to have some degree of independent thought, the way it's written. Is it a sentient AI, perhaps? Or did he fully transfer to her subconscious after his body died, and this is his way of having some consciousness? None of these issues were explored, and I'd be delighted if you want to give them a go.

I'm also totally down with fics that don't go into the side of things I laid out above. I'd be delighted for mission fics, gapfillers, fics where they have to deal with Central Command. Action and adventure!

I'd love fics that explore some of the issues of toxic straight culture and toxic masculinity. These characters are great and interesting and flawed, and I love fics that acknowledge and embrace the flaws.

Also, I'm fully down with Niall being written as trans and/or bi/pan, if that strikes your fancy (and if you want to put that into the She Can Sense What He Does context). I know he's represented as being with women a lot, but I'd love a subversion of that as being down to some toxic straight culture (already abundant evidence for that in canon!) and/or overcompensation for being the butt of the flavor of toxic masculinity that considers short stature to be a deficit in men.

Do not want: True downplaying of short guys. Niall is sensitive about being tinchy, but I don't want that written as something that's actually, objectively wrong with him. As a short trans guy, I'm on board with him expressing that insecurity, I'm fine with stories playing with that insecurity, I'd awfully like a fic where the insecurity is helped to some extent.

Scat/piss play

Out-of-character-ness

Lucky Starr - Isaac Asimov

What can I say? Never has 1950s sensibility lead to a more homoerotic set of stories!

That being said, I also love how scientifically based it is. That's what I want from this fandom - a true Lucky Starr fic that is solidly grounded in some real science, and has some of the real science come back as part of the Twist Ending. If you want to put some explicit Lucky/Bigman slash in there, I'd be delighted. But if you don't, a gen Lucky Starr story is already pretty damn slashy to me. :)

I love the whole world. I love the Sirians and all of the biological 'lessons' their perceived but not-actual superiority could represent. I love Sten insulting Bigman and Bigman getting his own. I'd love more exploration of Sten's comment about Lucky making an excellent Sirian.

I'd be delighted with a fic that explores the paucity of females in-universe, particularly in positions of leadership. Ditto a fic that explores how white and US/European the culture is.

I particularly love the Bigman/Yonge friendship. Although Yonge is technically the Ideal Tall Strong Man, he'd be a little at sea now that he's left Sirius - he doesn't know the society, the norms, the conventions. I'd love to explore their friendship a little more, with Yonge getting over all he's been indoctrinated to believe about Sirian Superiority. Particularly since that gets at a very valid biological point, to tie into the scientific underpinnings of Lucky Starr episodes!

If you want to write either Yonge, Bigman, or both as gay, I'd find that an interesting fic for sure! Although my preference is Lucky/Bigman, I'm interested in a Bigman/Yonge, especially if it leads to Lucky/Bigman. :)

If you want to write Bigman as trans, I'm totally down with that.

Do not want: True downplaying of short guys. I know there's a fair bit of that in canon, beyond just Bigman's sensitivity about it, but I don't want that written as something that's actually, objectively wrong with him. As a short trans guy, I'm on board with him expressing that insecurity, I'm fine with stories playing with that insecurity, I'd awfully like a fic where the insecurity is helped to some extent. I'm fine with canon-level teasing of him about it, but always in the context of Lucky genuinely caring for him and him bringing real value to Lucky's work.

Scat/piss play

Out-of-character-ness

Homophobia/transphobia/racism by the main characters. As a gay trans dude, I am very down with any of them being gay/trans/queer/etc and experiencing it, and even if they accidentally find that some of their activities are, but just no overt, knowing bigotry.

[savior-of-humanity]

SHARKY’S SUPER MEGA ICON MASTERLIST

So, I’ve been working on a pet project for quite a while now - basically making icons of just about anything and everything you can think of.

So far, this icon pack contains 100x100 unedited icons for the following characters, creatures, enemies and entities: AXL: AXL EVOLVE: Behemoth, Elder Kraken, Goliath, Gorgon, Kraken, Meteor Goliath, Wraith STELLARIS: Arthropoids, Avians, Fungoids, Humanoids, Machines, Mammalians, Molluscoids, Plantoids, Reptilians ALIEN VS PREDATOR: Xenomorphs (Drone/King/Praetorian/Queen/Spitter/Warrior/Predalien/Sangheili/Unggoy/Jiralhanae/Kig-Yar/Rex), Yautja DOOM: “Angels”, Doom Slayer, Dr. Samuel Hayden, Night Sentinel, Arachnotrons, Arch-Viles, Barons of Hell, Berserk Hunter, Cacodemons, Cherubs, Cyberdemons, Cybernetic Demons, Gremlins, Harvesters, Hellknights, Helltime Hunter, Icon of Sin, Imps, Invulnerability Hunter, Lost Souls, Maggots, Maledict, Mancubus, Marauder, Unnamed Flying Demons, Unnamed Whip Demons, Pain Elementals, Pinkies, Prowlers, Razors, Spider Mastermind, Summoners, Zombies FALLOUT: Deathclaws GOD OF WAR: Jormungandr CLASSIC GODZILLA: Anguirus, Battra, Biollante, Destoroyah, Gezorah, Gigan, Godzilla, Hedorah, King Ghidorah, King Kong, Kiryu, Kumonga, Manda, Mecha-Godzilla, Mecha-King Ghidorah, Mothra, Orga, Rodan, Space Godzilla, Titanosaurus, Varan, Zilla SHIN GODZILLA: Humanoids, Kamata-kun, Shinagawa-kun, Shin Godzilla LEGENDARY GODZILLA: Godzilla, Ghidorah, Kong, Mothra, MUTOs, Rodan, Skullcrawlers HALO: Atriox, Prophets of Truth/Regret/Mercy, Ripa ‘Moramee, Rtas ‘Vadum, Thel ‘Vadam, Tartarus, Brutes, Elites, Grunts, Hunters, Jackals, Prophets, Skirmishers, Scarabs, Gravemind, Infected Brute/Elite/Human/Spartan, Infection Form, Tank Form, 343 Guilty Spark, Didact, Librarian, Warden Eternal, Engineers, Machines, Monitors, Promethean Crawlers/Knights/Soldiers/Watchers, Guardians, Sentinels, Master Chief, Fred, Kelly, Linda, ODSTs MONSTER HUNTER: The Handler, Random Hunters, Random Palicoes, Anjananth, Azure Rathalos, Barroth, Bazelguise, Black Diablos, Deviljho, Diablos, Dodogama, Great Girros, Great Jagras, Jyuratodus, Kirin, Kulu-Ya-Ku, Kulve Taroth, Kushala Daora, Legiana, Lunastra, Nergigante, Odogaron, Paolumu, Pink Rathian, Pukei-Pukei, Rathalos, Rathian, Teostra, Titzi-Ya-Ku, Tobi-Kadachi, Uragaan, Vaal Hazaak, Xeno’Jiiva, Zorah Magdaros OVERWATCH: Ana, Baptiste, Bastion, Brigitte, Doomfist, D.VA, Efi, Emily, Ganymede, Genji, Hanzo, Junkrat, Lucio, Lynx Seventeen, McCree, Mei, Mercy, Moira, Orisa, Pharah, Reaper, Reinhardt, Roadhog, Sigma, Soldier: 76, Sombra, Symmetra, Torbjorn, Tracer, Widowmaker, Winston, Wrecking Ball, Zarya, Zenyatta QUAKE: Sorlag SCP FOUNDATION: SCP-682, SCP-939, SCP-096 SKYRIM: Alduin, Paarthurnax, Odahviing, Durnehviir, Ancient Dragons, Blood Dragons, Elder Dragons, Frost Dragons, Legendary Dragons, Regular Dragons, Revered Dragons, Skeletal Dragons STARCRAFT: Abathur WOLFENSTEIN: Jess, Soph XCOM: ADVENT, Archons, Chrysallids, Cyberdisks, Drones, Ethereals, Faceless, Floaters, Mechtoids, Mutons, Berserkers, Sectoids, Seekers, The Chosen, Vipers, The Viper King, Central, The Commander’s Avatar, Lily Shen, Mox, Outrider, Tygan, Vahlen You can find the changelog for this list at this link. You can find the disclaimer for the icons I’ve made at this link. You can view and download the icons I’ve made at this link.

[one-that-had-to]

Explanations

He wakes her late in the morning. Hearing Tatiana mumbles as she drags herself out of bed warms his heart, even if he’d much rather let her continue sleeping. She’d still only been mostly cognizant for barely a week, even sitting up seemed too much for her.

“Tell Tygan he can research what he wants,” she grumbles, rubbing at an eye.

“Not Tygan,” John corrects. He presses a mug of tea into her hands as a bribe to stay awake. “I let the Spokesman know we needed to talk, so he should be calling soon.”

Tatiana looks at him questioningly for a moment, but takes the mug of tea in silence. He watches her drink for a few moments, as though still needing proof that she was there after everything that had happened in the past twenty years.

The terminal beeps before long, so he kicks the chair away from the desk and drags one of the couches over so they can both sit. Tatiana shrugs his peacoat on and sits beside him, still nursing her tea. John answers the call, and sits beside her.

The Spokesman’s image flickers onto the screen. “Officer Bradford. Sergeant Major Mercier,” nodding at them.

“Spokesman,” Tatiana greets. “Didn’t think I’d ever hear from you again.”

“Wait, you’ve met before?” John asks incredulously.

She glances over at him curiously. “He interviewed me a few times for a promotion. How do you two know each other?”

“XCOM,” John answers with a shrug.

Tatiana’s brow furrows for a moment as she looks at him.

“The promotion you were being considered for was to become Commander of the XCOM project, Sergeant Major,” the Spokesman says quickly.

John stares mouth agape at the screen. “So why wasn’t she chosen? I’ve seen her work, she’s a better tactician than anyone else who was a part of the project.”

“The Council had some… concerns about her loyalty given her citizenship to a non-member nation,” the Spokesman explains. “It was decided that Van Doorn would become Commander instead.”

Tatiana nearly spits her tea out. “In what world does that make sense? Van Doorn’s an idiot,” she snaps. “I’m a professional, I could have handled it. The Council really thought it was better to put the fate of the world in his hands?”

“Unfortunately,” the Spokesman sighs.

Tatiana’s mug-warmed hand finds John’s and squeezes. “I’m so sorry,” she murmurs.

The Spokesman shifts slightly, and John gets the feeling he’s eyeing them both. “I was unaware you two were so... acquainted.”

“We were together for a year when the invasion started,” John replies.

“Together?”

In lieu of an answer, Tatiana digs under the collars of her clothes and pulls out her a chain. She picks a smaller object from beside her dog tags and lifts it up to show the Spokesman.

John’s heart flutters at the sight of his grandmother’s ring, still sparkling like it did when he gave it to her.

“I see,” the Spokesman says. “Perhaps you wouldn’t have been selected for Commander, regardless.” He sounds almost oddly disappointed in the idea.

“Oh come on,” she retorts, dropping her ring and tags back under her clothing. “Again, I can be a professional. Which, apparently, the Council can’t. Didn’t know about our relationship, took months to realize I’d regained my Czech citizenship, isn’t it the job of types like you to know everything? Did the rest of the Council even know I was almost discharged for being queer?”

The Spokesman hesitates.

“They didn’t.”

“I ensured the accusation wouldn’t affect the consideration of a potential strategic genius,” the Spokesman replies matter-of-factly. “It would have caused more issues than your citizenship. Clearly in the end it was unnecessary.”

Tatiana eyes him, his admission seeming to weigh on her mind more than most. After a moment, she sighs and presses into John’s side a bit more. “I guess if the Council knew everything they wouldn’t have lost the invasion,” she muses.

“Sergeant Major —”

“She has a point, Sir,” John cuts in. “You should have known there were better options than Van Doorn.”

The Spokesman takes a deep breath to calm himself. “The mistake should be corrected now, before it is too late,” he says, letting his gaze seem to fall on Tatiana again. “If you accept, of course.”

Tatiana hesitates for a heartbeat, something almost looking like fear crossing her expression. “I accept,” she says at last.

The Spokesman nods. “Good luck, Commander.”

The screen blacks out, leaving the two of them on their own once more. John leans over and steals a kiss while he can.

“I can’t believe you never mentioned the Council,” he teases gently.

“You didn’t mention anything, either. Too good at keeping your NDA,” she retorts. She leans against him and hums for a moment in thought. “I’m more ashamed I didn’t figure it out earlier.”

“What do you mean?”

“I kept getting dragged to lectures and conferences I had no right to be at, other than that I was Army. Met a Dr. Shen at one, even. Had a bit of an argument with my superiors about it and they told me probably more than I should have known,” she explains.

“The Gala —” John rubs his hands over his face as the realization hits him. “It was the Council all along.”

“Probably,” Tatiana muses. She leans over to set the mug down on the desk, then loops her arms around his shoulders to guide them both to be laying down on the sofa. “At least it means the Council did one good thing.”

“Just the one,” he agrees. He wraps his arms around her and lets her sleep once more.

[justxcomthings]

[image source]

JXT: Disappointing Your Jellyfish Overlords

[companionwolf]

Toy Soldiers Ch 14

Spring passes, summer arrives, hot and dry, drawing the water from the well, leaving the Commander rationing what they have left between the garden and themselves. Eventually it runs out, and so does the alcohol. They pack up a travel bag, tucking the toy soldiers into pockets, and set out one morning before dawn.

Central, triedly, notes that they're not headed toward the city.

"I'm going back to Freedom Point," they say. "Got some stuff I can trade for some water and the final pieces of the purifier I've been hacking together."

What's Freedom Point? asks Kelly.

It's a haven, Shen says. Isn't it?

The Commander nods. "They were kind to me, once," they say. "It'll be weird to see them again, but they won't turn away what I've got. I hope."

The woods fall away as they hike into the sweltering afternoon and then into evening. Distantly, there are multicolored lights in the dark. Kelly points them out, Shen demands the human pull her out to let her see.

"You might like looking at what they've got for an irrigation system and a light system," they say as they put her back once she's confirmed that she's seen the lights. "I know you're kind of a tinkerer. Or well, would be, if…"

I notice more details than you do, she says. That's how we fixed your bathroom.

The Commander nods.

They pass a decaying house; the human pauses to creep inside, pawing through long deprecated ruins.

What are you looking for?

"Anything," says the Commander.

They're about to leave when an unfamiliar voice sounds in their head: There's datapads here, hidden in the wall. A dying ADVENT trooper passed through this residence.

The Commander jumps, glances around, sees the toy soldier on a half standing dresser. He's dark, wearing tiny glasses, dressed in the series' standard science officer uniform.

They step over some rotting floor to him, gently pick him up. "Hey."

Greetings, the toy says. I'm Dr. Richard Tygan.

"Hi, Tygan," says the Commander. They point at each pocket, introduce Central, Shen, Kelly and then themselves. "You said there were datapads?"

The sense of a nod. Had I the ability to move, and the knowledge of my previous human, I would be able to tell you what precisely was stored on them.

Is your previous…?

Another sense of a nod.

Sorry, says Central. Mine too.

Me three, says Kelly.

He was an ADVENT scientist, says Tygan, before he defected. Worked in the gene therapy clinics. I imagine that eventually he realized there was something far more sinister at play, and removed himself from that.

The Commander crosses their arms. "Brave, I'll admit that, and I wouldn't want to live under ADVENT either," they say after a long moment.

You seem indignant, says Tygan.

They're not a big fan of the resistance, Central explains.

I see, Tygan answers. Maybe you won't be interested in the datapads, then.

"No, I'll take them. More to trade with," they say. The toy soldier scientist directs them to the walls where the data pads have been stashed; they gather them up and tuck them into the travel pack.

So you're not with the administration or the resistance, Tygan says as they exit the house. What do you do, then?

They used to be XCOM's commander! Now they take care of us.

"Kelly!"

I said used to be! And the other part is true!

Intriguing, Tygan says.

They got caught when their org fell, Central says. Used for God knows what by the aliens until they thought our human had died, narrowly escaped when they got dumped.

Ah, says Tygan. It is rather strange, a human of your age being into toys. Is there a reason or do you just…enjoy our presence?

"I take your human liked toys too," they say, a bit defensively.

I was a gag gift, he says. My human got attached, he let me watch him while he worked-- he took me with him when he left ADVENT.

"I think toys are nice," they say. "I don't think there's a real why to it."

You think toys are more than nice, says Shen. She's transmitting a sense of a smirk. The Commander goes red.

"I only feel that for Central," they stammer. "Not that I don't care for you guys as well, I just--"

Oh, a objectumsexual!

"What."

Did you not know there was a word? Tygan sounds amused. Objectumsexuality-- the attraction toward objects. There is objectumromantic too, which I assume you also fall under.

The Commander stares at him in their hands. "What."

How did you know that? asks Kelly, who's more mystified than accusing in her tone. I didn't know that!

You don't know a lot anyway, says Shen. Though I didn't either at first.

"Be nice," mumbles the Commander.

My human studied gender and sexuality as a side hobby, before the aliens came, Tygan says. Their work included speaking to these OSOR people as part of a project.

"There were others?" The Commander's voice is weak, disbelieving.

A few. They were hard to find-- many didn't want to talk. I admire their bravery-- in the Old World, people seemed fairly hostile to the entire concept of your love.

You think they still are? Central sounds almost nervous.

I think humanity has far more to worry about now, Tygan says.

"Yeah," the Commander agrees. They shake themselves. "Look, uh, we're heading toward Freedom Point, and then home-- you wanna come along?"

Tygan thinks for a moment. I think that is agreeable, he says finally.

"Awesome, enjoy the ride."

They tuck him into a pocket and hurry away from the house, toward the horizon, the toys talking amongst themselves as they travel with occasional comments from the human.

How much longer till we get there? Kelly asks. The moon is rising.

"Almost there," says the Commander.

They press on into the dark.

[the-grim-squeaker-8]

Generic Backstories

Soldiers

Raised in a remote community in <CountryName>, <FirstName> learned the art of survival at an early age. Instilled with a strong sense of self-reliance, they're eager to do their part to take back the Earth.

People say <FirstName> lost it and went rogue after learning that Earth's governments had surrendered to the aliens. The prevailing rumor is that they've spent most of their time since in <CountryName>, hunting aliens for sport.

<FirstName> was separated from their family during the invasion. They wound up fighting their way across <CountryName>, apparently surviving on their own for the past several years.

Born and raised in <CountryName>, <FirstName> is something of a wild card, with no formal training to speak of. They may be just the kind of recruit XCOM needs. 

Word circulating among the troops is that <FirstName> was actually a convict being held in <CountryName> until recently. Since their release, they've developed a grisly reputation for collecting trophies off of enemy combatants. 

<FirstName> carries themsleves like a military veteran, but has been reluctant to speak about the details of their past service in <CountryName>. C.O. Bradford note: let sleeping dogs lie.

Serving as part of an irregular militia outfit in <CountryName> known simply as the Warriors, <FirstName> was wounded and later captured by ADVENT. We're not entirely sure why they weren't processed with the other prisoners. 

Back in <CountryName>, <FirstName> is the subject of longstanding rumors as to their involvement in covert military operations. They'll have plenty of opportunities to prove themselves in the coming weeks. 

There are concerns among the Resistance regarding speculation that several recent recruits may have actually been escapees from a high-security prison facility in <CountryName>. <FirstName> is on their list of possible detainees, but at this point, we're not in a position to turn away skilled fighters regardless of where they've been.

<FirstName> was caught by alien forces outside of one of the city centers in <CountryName>. Using a stolen vehicle, they apparently rammed one of the ADVENT security towers in the hopes of uprooting it. Obviously it didn't work out, but we like their instincts.

Engineers

<FirstName> was only a shadetree mechanic before the war, doing the occasional odd job while helping their neighbors in <CountryName> fix their cars. With resources and manpower running low, they've offered to do what they can to help our cause.

Once employed by ADVENT to aid in the construction of city centers throughout <CountryName>, <FirstName> grew suspicious of their efforts after discovering extensive plans for underground detention centers.

<FirstName> spent much of their life serving as an educator in <CountryName>, persisting despite the hardships of the invasion. When a number of their students were killed in an ADVENT peacekeeping operation, they joined the Resistance seeking change.

Rumor has it <FirstName> was one of the best mechanics left in <CountryName> after the war. Old tech, new tech, doesn't matter. If you can break it, word is, they can fix it. 

People are often suspicious of the quiet ones, and <FirstName> is one of the quietest engineers we've ever come across. Originally from <CountryName>, they've got a reputation for working miracles with the alien technology.

We're always looking for free thinkers, inventors, tinkerers, anyone that might be able to advance our knowledge of the alien technology. <FirstName> was known for their work in <CountryName> experimenting with low-budget robotics before the invasion. Just the sort of recruit we need. 

<FirstName>, an engineer originally from <CountryName>, has an almost suspicious level of expertise in the handling and storage of Elerium. As to how they gained this unique skillset, we're still not entirely sure.

Originally from <CountryName>, <FirstName> was once the Chief Engineer on an experimental naval vessel deployed during the earliest days of the invasion. Although they have a reputation for exaggerating their work estimates, they're also known as something of a miracle worker.

<FirstName> was once famous for their engineering startup firm run out of a small house in <CountryName>. Unfortunately for them, the global economy collapsed with the rest of the old world, and their technology was appropriated by ADVENT.

<FirstName> is a little rough around the edges, having spent the last few years conducting research independently in <CountryName>. It's been a while since they've spent time around other people, but their skills are too valuable to pass up. 

Working as an underground gunsmith in <CountryName>, <FirstName> was famous for crafting weapons from spare parts and discarded materials otherwise considered junk.

<FirstName> used to work as an airplane mechanic at one of the major shipping hubs in <CountryName>. The Avenger may be a little different than what they're used to, but every bit of experience counts.

An expert of rare skill, <FirstName> studied metallurgy in <CountryName>. With the number of unusual alien materials we deal with, their talents are sorely needed.      

At the onset of the invasion <FirstName> was working as an astronomer in <CountryName>, specializing in the design of radio telescopes used for astronomical observations.

In the old days, you probably wouldn't have found a diesel mechanic from <CountryName> serving as an engineer for XCOM. Times have changed, and <FirstName> will no doubt prove their worth to the team.

Scientists

With many of the major universities in <CountryName> having been destroyed during the invasion, brilliant minds like <FirstName> are a rare asset. They're eager to contribute to our research team in any way possible.

<FirstName> was discovered by ADVENT conducting experiments using salvaged alien technology in the outlying territories of <CountryName>. Having somehow managed to escape, they offered their work to the Resistance in exchange for their protection.

Although <FirstName> was born in <CountryName> and spent much of their time working in solitude, during a brief introductory period they served as a colleague of Dr. Tygan's at one of ADVENT's earliest gene therapy clinics.

Word among the Resistance is that <FirstName> was something of a well-known chemist responsible for manufacturing illicit substances in <CountryName>. Apparently their operation was large enough to threaten ADVENT's plans, and they wound up on their most-wanted list.

The Resistance has been leery of experiments conducted by <FirstName> in a remote area in <CountryName>, something about alien vivisections. At this point we're desperate for anyone with the right skills, so they'll have to do.

We're not entirely sure what sort of formal training <FirstName> had before the invasion hit <CountryName>, but their time spent as a field medic gives them a leg up on most of the candidates we come across.

<FirstName> showed up at one of the early resistance outposts in <CountryName>, but the locals had their concerns about their mental health after finding them attempting to interrogate a long-dead Sectoid.

Once considered to be among the finest minds in the field of astrophysics, <FirstName> disappeared in <CountryName> shortly after the invasion began. Having suddenly reemerged, they seem eager to help the Resistance in any way possible.

Having worked as an educator in <CountryName> for much of their life, <FirstName> has a wealth of experience when it comes to teaching and training others, a valuable asset to an organization like ours.

One of the foremost experts in robotics technology, <FirstName> escaped the initial alien attack on <CountryName> with the help of an armored suit of their own design. Rumor has it their original concepts may have influenced the ADVENT MECs we see today.

<FirstName> was a pharmacist working at a small clinic in <CountryName> before ADVENT Peacekeeping forces destroyed the facility in an effort to encourage migration to one of the city centers.

The prevailing rumor is that <FirstName> was involved in some sort of government-sponsored research project in <CountryName> dealing in time travel. Apparently it didn't work out.

In waging a personal war against the aliens, <FirstName> released a number of untested chemical weapons into the environment in <CountryName> in the hopes of warding off ADVENT's peacekeeping forces.

<FirstName> was among the first in <CountryName> to discover the truth about ADVENT's hybrid soldiers. Unfortunately, their efforts to convince people of their findings led to their immediate placement on a Resistance collaborator watch list.

<FirstName> has been evasive about what exactly their background was before linking up with the resistance in <CountryName>. From initial conversations, it's clear at the very least they've had an extensive education.