Monday, June 30, 2036 – 7:00am
Wake Island, Hawaiian Republic, Pacific Ocean
“Attention incoming aircraft! This is the gunshipJSDF Hinomaru!You have been intercepted by the United Nations Navy inside of a restricted area! Turn around and work north immediately! I say again: Unidentified aircraft, you have been intercepted by theJSDF Hinomaruof the United Nations Navy! Change course immediately and proceed towards Honolulu Spaceport! You are inside of restricted airspace! If you fail to comply, you will be fired upon!”
An old ADVENT supply barge continued sailing forward above the ocean surface, ignoring the radio calls from the nearby UN spaceplane. TheHinomarubanked her wings and fell in behind the starship. Keeping the supply barge’s stern in front of her nose, theHinomaruwas in the kill position, ready to launch a missile at any moment! A few tense moments passed before the order was given from UN Headquarters:
“Hinomaru:this is Secretary-General Harper… destroy the target!”
A laser-guided missile fell away from the spaceplane’s left wing and fired up its engine! The journey from launch to target took only three seconds! The missile struck the underside of the old spaceship and blew out a section of hull near the engine bell! Crippled, the vessel began to lose altitude, falling out of the sky and leaving a trail of opaque smoke behind. Bursting through the clouds, the fatally wounded supply barge fell from the sky like a meteor and slammed into a narrow spit of land, the only island around for hundreds of miles in any direction.
Smoke had barely begun to rise from the wreckage before an access hatch blew out and four occupants escaped from the craft: Three Humans and a Lithoid Outsider. While the organic crewmates got clear of the wreckage, the Outsider returned to try and fight the flames, ignoring the gunship coming in for a landing nearby. Palm trees and long grass rustled and waved as a second spacecraft came down on the little island.
Before theUNS Tigermothcould come to a full and complete stop, Mira Mihaka jumped out of the main door and onto the ground. Pointing a Psionic Amplifier at the shipwrecked Humans, she screamed:
“AKIRA JAQUELINE ROBINSON! PUT YOUR HANDS UP AND DON’T MOVE! I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU IF YOU DON’T LISTEN!!”
The two male Humans stood aside when they realized Mira was talking to the one and only woman in their group: The red-haired Templar known as Violet saw the weapon aimed at her chest and promptly surrendered! Taking no chances, Violet fell to her knees and put both hands above her head. Meanwhile, the six remaining Stormbreakers erupted out of theTigermothand, weapons drawn, advanced on the three Templars.
Also taking no chances, Sophie Ackermann raised her shotgun and annihilated the Outsider with a single blast! The Lithoid splintered into pieces and crumbled to the ground while Sophia, Isis, and Matthew arrested Violet and her compatriots. Meanwhile, Odette and Yutaka looked inside of the ruined supply barge, which was now mostly extinguished. After a momentary search, both soldiers emerged from the rear deployment bay.
“Where are the others!?” Yutaka demanded, “We know you were carrying two hundred cultists to the Pacific Anomaly! You were taking them to a battle they were never going to win! A slaughter!”
“We had a change of plans.” Violet answered calmly. “We knew you were coming for us, so we moved the volunteers to another transport.”
“What!?” Sophia gasped. “How the hell did you know we were onto you!?”
“That’s not important!” Matthew interjected. “What matters is that we’ve got Akira! She can’t lead anyone into a trap if she’s in our custody!”
The other Stormbreakers cheered in agreement, leaving Sophia’s question unanswered. But the celebratory mood was quickly cut short by a scratchy, tomboyish voice:
“Guys… that’s not Akira.”
Odette’s words cut through the air, and a wave of terror seemed to follow behind it. The Frenchwoman lowered her rifle and cautiously approached Violet. The Templar was handcuffed and kneeling in front of Matthew and Sophia. She turned to look at Odette with an unexpected smile.
“The voices warned me about you.” Violet breathed. “They said you have a powerful intuition.”
Mira looked back and forth from Violet to Odette and back again. Her thoughts seemed to be moving at a hundred Kios per second! Then, Mira touched one finger to her own forehead and pointed it at Violet. The telepathic invasion was so abrupt and violent that the female Templar screamed and fell over on her side! Mira had expected to unmask Akira and force her to reveal what she was planning. Instead, Mira made a disturbing discovery, gasped, and stumbled backwards!
Odette was right… the handcuffed woman lying in the sand was not Akira… but there was still a far more frightening development going on.
“How long have you been there?” Mira asked in a low, shaking voice. “When did you get there!?”
Violet sat upright, looked around at the group, and let out a sigh of resignation. Then she spoke, but the voice that came forth clearly did not belong to her. It sounded similar to a chorus of voices, hundreds or perhaps thousands, speaking in perfect unison:
“You would do well to ask the woman who carries our kin as though it was a trinket and sells parts of her child to it.”
Everybody took a step back from Violet! Panicked exclamations echoed around the group.
“What the f*ck!?” Sophie shrieked. “What happened to Violet?”
Isis put her Gremlin drone in Medical Protocol and ordered it to scan Violet. When the flying robot returned to its owner, she gave an unexpected prognosis:
“So… uh… I think a Psionic lifeform has latched itself onto Violet. I think it’s leeching energy off her, and it’s definitely the one talking right now.”
Mira looked down at Violet.
“How did you get here?” She asked.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Sophie cut in. “We shot her down.”
“I’m not talking to Violet.” Mira clarified. She knelt down next to the Templar and added: “How did you,theWhisperers in the Void, end up here on Earth, sucking the sanity out of a Templar?”
None of the Stormbreakers knew what Mira meant when she used the words “Whisperers in the Void” but Matthew and Isis correctly guessed that it had something to do with the mysterious “Shroud” Mira had discussed several months ago, and now directed their concerned expressions onto Mira herself.
“If you seek the full story, contact the Vanians.” The Whisperers in the Void replied through Violet. “You should not waste your time on us… by now, the Progeny will have reached Tethys. The battle will begin at any moment.”
…
Monday, June 30, 2036 – 7:30am
Airspace above the Pacific Ocean
Six UN spacecraft charged into the Pacific Anomaly at full speed! Two ADVENT Interceptors and four Battlemaster-class spaceplanes carried the Stormbreakers, some three dozen XCOM soldiers, and a small strike force of Templars towards the very core of the Psionic Maelstrom, while aboard theUNS Tigermoth,Mira confronted a pair of representatives of the Triple Alliance.
Two Vanians, one male and one female, found themselves surrounded by angry Humans, Partogans, and Levakians; all of whom were asking questions rapid-fire:
“How long were you keeping this a secret!?”
“When did your people return to the Shroud?”
“Did you take the Composer or the Whisperers first?”
“How long did your people possess the Whisperers in the Void?”
“How much of this technology was subverted by the Beast!?”
It was that last question that finally prompted a response from the two Vanians. The male one, an officer named Ruldu, shook his head in frustration so much that several iridescent blue feathers fell to the floor.
“Don’t you think I’ve been asking the same questions!?” Ruldu snapped. “Everyone on my world knew about the Instrument of Desire! It was ingrained into our very being! How was any lay-bird like me supposed to know the Conclave went back for a second patron!?”
Mira wasn’t satisfied and pressed on while Central Officer Smith moved towards the co*ckpit to check on progress.
“The Beast took Vania years ago!” Mira was outraged. “The enemy has been holding onto the Whisperers in the Void for almost a decade! Do you realize what that means!? Every defeat our side has suffered for the past eight years was because the Beast had this wellspring of knowledge that it stole fromyour people!Why didn’t you just hand the Galaxy over on an Aetherium platter!?”
“Perhaps we did.” The Peahen muttered. “None of us knew the Conclave had taken a second patron. Clearly it was being housed in either the Psi Corps on Vania, or in our Science Nexus. Both locations were subject to secrecy. The Whisperers in the Void would have been a closely guarded state secret.”
Ruldu nodded in agreement. The blue and yellow peaco*ck looked happy that no one had challenged his compatriot’s explanation. Central Officer Smith re-entered the crew area, shaking her head.
“The damage is done, Mira.” Holly said. “Now we just have to play the hand we’re dealt. What do you think we’re going to find down there?”
Mira folded her arms and cast a very dark look around the group.
“A scene from a nightmare.” Mira replied. “Just get us to the anomaly.”
…
Monday, June 30, 2036 – 7:55am
The Alien Fortress, Tethys Seamount, Pacific Ocean
The spaceplanes couldn’t fly inside of the Maelstrom. Circling high, theNormandy, Persepolis, Bushranger,andHinomaruall flew in a low circle above the mile-wide whirlpool and watched as theTigermothand her sistership descended. The Tethys Seamount was over four miles beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean, giving the Stormbreakers plenty of time to stare out theTigermoth’sside portals at the wall of seawater beside them. Whales, squid, and other enormous forms of sealife gave the maelstrom a wide berth, but still came close enough to be seen from the descending spacecraft.
Finally, after about five minutes, Wendy Carter, piloting theTigermoth,reported:
“Starship contact! I see five ADVENT troop transports landed on the summit!”
Mira pointed out the co*ckpit window towards a plateau near the crushed remains of the Elder’s fortress.
“Drop us off there! Near the waterline! Do not land!”
Tethys was no longer completely submerged. The very bottom of the maelstrom could not be seen because the water was slowly starting to rise again. The base of the seamount was submerged, and seawater was rising up all sides of the mountain. By Mira’s guess, they had about thirty minutes before the Alien Fortress was once again lost to the sea, along with Duane Gardner and his “Volunteers.”
TheTigermothtried to come to a hover before dropping any soldiers to the ground, but that problem was compounded when Wendy suddenly pulled up on the control column, aborting the drop, and saying:
“The landing zone is hot! Weapons fire on the ground!”
“Don’t land!” Mira responded. “Put us in a hover behind the Templars on the ground!”
Near the main door, Matthew ordered the Stormbreakers to lock and load.
“Shoot the sea monsters only!” He ordered. “Remember, we wanna save these people!”
The main door retracted, granting the Stormbreakers their first view of the carnage below…
It was a horrific scene. Twenty Templars stood back-to-back, fighting against a roiling swarm of sea monsters that clambered and crawled over the bodies of some two hundred warriors that had already been slain. In the center of the melee, Duane Gardner was visible, standing head and shoulders above the combatants and blasting anything that came near with powerful Psionic bursts. The surviving Templars were a mixed force of Humans, Hybrids, Sectoids, Levakians, Partogans, Mutons, Vanians, Amadii, and Vipers. Celestial Gauntlets flashed in the dark maelstrom, cutting Tasoths and Triscenes to pieces!
As theTigermothcame to a hover, Matthew pointed into the battle and shouted:
“Drop now! Go go go!”
Mira and six Stormbreakers hit the mud together and charged into the fight! Isis, Odette, Sophie, Sophia, Matthew and Yutaka used laser rifles to cut their way past a massive Tentaculat before pushing towards the stricken Templars. Mira activated her Psionic amplifier and stayed close to the squad. All around her, the sound of the maelstrom was like a tornado, the roar of raging waters threatening to drown out all else!
At the top of a heap of corpses, Duane Gardner lashed and struck out with this Celestial Gauntlets at the encroaching sea monsters! He made no effort to protect or save the fighters around him; a Gifted Levakian roared as it was felled by a Lobsterman, two Vipers reached out towards him for salvation, only to be ignored and dragged under the waves in the teeth of a vicious Triscene, and the last Hiigaran in the group found herself caught in the grip of a hideous Tentaculat. The Hiigaran’s scream of anguish echoed all the way up the maelstrom and died long after she did.
Each time a combatant was killed, be they friend of foe, Duane seemed to become more and more ferocious in his fighting. Each Psionic attack was intensified, and the effects more harmful or destructive! By the time Mira and the Stormbreakers reached him, Duane was firing bolts of lightning from his hands that were instantly lethal to even the largest sea monster!
“Gardner!” Yutaka shouted above the chaotic noise of battle. “Come on, we’re here to get you and your people out of here!”
“No!” Duane stood his ground and refused to move. “We must press on! We must defeat the Deep One!”
Mira spotted a reptilian Tarsoth coming up the hill behind Duane! She stood behind him and blasted it away with her Psionic Amplifier! Fighting back to back, Mira and Duane kept most of the sea monsters at bay while the Stormbreakers started evacuating the surviving Templars to theTigermoth.
“Gardner!” Mira called to him. “The Deep One isn’t what you think it is! You cannot face it! Akira lied to you!”
Duane hesitated for just a moment.
“Akira? She died here a year ago!” He responded.
“Listen to me! Whoever told you that you could take this thing lied to you!” Mira shouted. “Get on the damned ship!”
A bright red pulse of laser weapon fire illuminated the Crypt of the Elders. Sophia and Sophie both got into a kneeling position and fired their weapons into a dark corner of the battlefield.
“Mira!” Sophia yelled. “We’ve got movement in the Crypt! We gotta go!”
Mira tried to grab Duane by the shoulder, but he broke free of her grasp. In that sort moment of contact, Mira detected the immense Psionic energy radiating off his body! It was already too late! Duane had used his power to absorb the energy of the dead and was itching to make use of it!
Was Duane doing this during our first assault on this place?Mira wondered to herself as she gave chase.
The Deep One was emerging from the ruined Crypt of the Elders, just as it had done when Mira’s disembodied spirit had visited here months ago. Lopsided, misshapen, and vaguely humanlike, the creature shuffled out of the space where it had been hiding, a shattered tower that had once occupied the center of the Crypt.
Suddenly, all other concerns and thoughts left Mira’s mind. She knew full well that this was one of the Shroud-Beings she had done battle against at Archer’s Canyon so very long ago. She could still clearly remember how the Composer of Strands had sent her flying through the air with a single strike. This was a foe to be taken seriously, or if possible, escape from. Taking her eyes off the Composer for just a moment to see where theTigermothwas, Mira felt Duane leave her side and lunge into the fight once more!
“Stop! Come back!” Mira cried out.
Duane ignored her and closed the distance between himself and the Deep One! A massive Triscene, nearly twelve feet tall, covered in thick scales, and knashing rows upon rows of sharp teeth, threw itself between Duane and his target! The reptilian monster snapped its jaws at the lone Templar, who raised one Gauntlet high and clenched his fist! A bolt of lighting descended from the heavens above and pierced the Triscene’s head! The explosion of light and noise hit Mira like a bomb blast and nearly knocked her over backwards! Killed instantly the Triscene keeled over and fell down the mountainside, vanishing beneath the rapidly rising waters of the Pacific.
Duane raised both Gauntlets and took aim at the Deep One, preparing to launch some kind of Psychokinetic attack!
“The ends right now!” Duane shouted.
In an instant, a flash of thought, Mira put the clues together and came to a realization!
This was what Akira wanted!
It all made sense! Akira had recognized the Composer of Strands when she had seen it during Operation Leviathan! She had been planning to prop up Duane this whole time, to goad him into destroying the Shroud-Being, and permanently remove from play one of the five entities that had once tried to hunt down the Paradox! Mira looked at Duane… as he raised one hand to strike down the Composer of Strands once and for all! She wasn’t entirely sure, but Mira could have sworn she heard a telepathic voice whisper the words:
“Do it!”
This was Akira’s plan! Mira was sure of it! She had recruited Duane and the Templars to kill the Composer of Strands! To wipe out any chance of the Shroud-Being coming after her again!
“DUANE! STOP!”
Mira scrambled to her feet, charged towards Duane, and knocked his wrist aside! A Psionic Lance leapt forth from his palm, overshot the Composer of Strands, and dove into the roiling waters of the maelstrom! He looked down at her, full of rage and fury! His eyes shone with a dark light that wasn’t his own as he shouted:
“This is the Deep One! It has to die now!”
“It’s the Composer of Strands!” Mira got right in his face and yelled. “Did you forget everything I said about Shroud-Beings back in Nagasaki!? You can’t just kill them!”
The dark light resurfaced in Duane’s eyes. He seemed to have taken Mira’s words to heart, albeit much faster than what Mira was expecting. In fact, as Duane’s expression began to change, and a new idea took shape in his mind… Mira only had about half-a-second in which to realize and appreciate the full magnitude of just how big a mistake she had just made.
Mira had just come to the wrong answer, had acted on a bad judgement, and now it was time for consequences.
“Well, if I can’t kill it…” Duane seemed to be thinking out loud. Then, he took action!
Duane pushed Mira aside so hard that she fell to the ground! He advanced a few paces, and then his Celestial Gauntlets began to crackle and spark as the young Templar began to charge his energy! Duane pulled off his right-hand Gauntlet and reached into his pocket, producing a long thin cable. He raised the Neurowhip above his head!
“Creature of the Shroud!” Duane bellowed. “BOW TO ME!”
The Neurowhip illuminated with an unnatural light! Barely visible tendrils, looking not unlike the tentacles of one of these sea monsters, erupted from Duane’s body and latched themselves onto his target! The Composer of Strands let out a nightmare-inducing scream of fury and began to struggle! The Human-shaped body the Composer had inhabited began to writhe and flail as its body was lifted into the air by the sheer force of Duane’s mind!
This wasPsionic Domination, the ultimate form of Mind Control.
The Composer of Strands shrieked and wailed as Duane smashed and slammed away at its free will with his own power! Mira jumped to her feet and grabbed him by the arm!
“Stop! Duane! Don’t do this! YOU NEED TO STOP!”
Mira appealed to Sophie and Sophia for help! The South African guerrilla answered right away, but the Russian fighter stood rooted to the spot, transfixed and mesmerized by the agony of the Composer of Strands! Sophie and Mira both grabbed Duane and tried to break his focus, but he threw them both aside and put himself behind a Psionic shield! The Composer of Strands began make a horrific choking noise, as though it were being lifted into the air by its neck! With its one and only arm, the creature reached out towards Duane in one last act of defiance!
“Who is your master, creature!?” Duane shouted!
Finally, the Composer of Strands ceased its resistance. The fight was over.
“Jericho.” It answered.
The Composer of Strands bowed its head low in a gesture of obedience. At once, the Psionic maelstrom gave up any attempt at continuing to exist! The massive, mile-wide whirlpool began to collapse on itself as billions of gallons of saltwater began to rain down from up above, threatening to swamp the Crypt of the Elders in a matter of seconds!
In pure frustration, Mira flung a Psi Lance at Duane! It bounced harmlessly off his shield as both he and the Composer moved together, jumping off the mountainside and into the open doors of theTigermoth’ssister ship. Screaming her anger and fury to the heavens, Mira followed Sophie back aboard theTigermothitself, while Odette and Yutaka both briefly stepped out to recover Sophia, who seemed to be in some kind of trance. Their passengers secured, both of the former ADVENT spacecraft began to rise up and away from Tethys while below, the Psionic maelstrom finally collapsed!
Miles and miles of seawater raced down towards the Alien Fortress! The epic deluge crushed the Crypt of the Elders into powder and obliterated the rest of the structure, the remains sent cascading down the slopes of the mountain as it returned to its place at the bottom of a dark and silent ocean!
As the Psionic maelstrom collapsed and subsided, the two flying saucers rejoined the UN spaceplanes waiting for them and flew in formation towards Easter Island, while all around them, the skies and waves of the Pacific Ocean became calm and peaceful for the first time in almost a year…
… Monday, June 30, 2036 – 11:30am
XCOM Forward Operating Base, Easter Island, Pacific Ocean
“And then what happened?”
“Gardner used Psionics to place the Composer of Strands under his control. According to reports from around the Pacific Rim, all sea monster attacks stopped within minutes of the Composers subjugation.”
Mira was standing between several leading members of the Human military, all of whom were struggling to wrap their heads around what had just happened this morning.XCOM Commander John Bradford, Reclamation Director Jane Kelly, and several other leading members of AFUNE were present and discussing what exactly had just happened down on Tethys. On a large digital screen at the far end of the room, the assembled Human leadership could watch and observe a live feed from Doctor Vahlen’s research facility, where Doctors Tygan and Vahlen were subjecting Duane, Violet, and the body of the Composer of Strands to a series of exams.
The Commander of the United Nations Army turned to Mira.
“Refresh my memory,” The Canadian officer said. “How many of these Shroud-Beings are there?”
“There are five in total.” Mira answered. “You’ve got two of them locked up in Vahlen’s lab: The Composer of Strands and the Whisperers in the Void.”
“You say these are creatures of incredible power.” Director Kelly mused. “Didn’t you also say that these things are extremely dangerous in a fight?”
“Dangerous!?” Mira repeated. “Director Kelly, we’re talking about god-like entities here! These creatures are above and beyond what the Ethereals were capable of.”
“And now we have two such demigods under our control.” Bradford said, scratching his chin. “Mira, do you think we could find a way to turn these things against the Beast?”
Mira furrowed her brow and put her hands on her hips. They just weren’t getting it!
“Commander Bradford, you seem to be missing the point.” Mira tried again. “These creatures consider us insects in comparison to them. If they were at their full strength, they’d crush us all without a second thought!”
Murmurs and mutters ran around the room as the assembled leaders considered this.
“How did you end up in battle against one of these things?” Jane Kelly asked. “How did you survive?”
Mira pondered her answer for a moment, then decided that the time for half-truths had passed:
“My enemy made a covenant with a Shroud-Being, and I made a covenant with another. Ultimately, my partner was the stronger, and I prevailed.”
Thanks to the intercom system, Doctor Vahlen was able to hear Mira’s words and her interest was piqued.
“Certain Shroud-Beings are stronger than others?” Doctor Vahlen paused in her work and faced the camera, looking through the digital screen towards the group. “Miss Mihaka, this is fascinating. I feel the need to ask: How would you rank the five creatures in terms of combat capabilities?”
Doctor Tygan had a more pressing question.
“Mihaka, you said that these creatures are not at their full strength. What happened to them?
Mira bit her lip. This wasn’t a story she had ever wanted to tell
“Akira.” She replied. “She double-crossed the most powerful Shroud-Being and it went after her. There was a fight, and…”
Mira trailed off. Memories of that frightening battle at the end of time itself were flooding back. In the lab, Tygan turned away from the viewscreen and looked at the Composer of Strands.
“Akira did this.” He said. “She crippled this creature.”
“She crippled all five of them.” Mira confirmed.
Finally, she gave the leaders of AFUNE a full explanation:
“These entities normally reside in the Shroud, where they are made entirely from Psionic energy. But they can leave the Shroud by cutting deals with Gifted people calledcovenants. Each Shroud-Being will offer something in return for being allowed to merge with its new host. The Whisperers in the Void grants insight, wisdom, and the ability to discover hidden secrets. The Composer of Strands transforms and reshapes living things. The Instrument of Desire grants wealth and prestige, while the Eater of Worlds bestows martial prowess. All of this comes with a cost, though. You and your people willalwayssuffer some kind of loss or destruction in return. These beings will always take something from you as payment…always.”
Director Kelly had been writing in a notepad while Mira was talking. She counted on her fingers, looked up and said:
“Hang on, Mira. I think you missed one. Who’s the fifth entity?”
Mira shuddered. An aura of fear and terror radiated off of her and filled the room with a sense of dread.
“The End of the Cycle.”
“What will it give us?” Bradford asked in a low voice.
“Everything.”
“And what will it cost?”
“Everything.”
Silence. For nearly a full minute, everybody just stared at Mira. Even Doctor Vahlen seemed lost for words. Finally, Bradford said:
“That’s the one, isn’t it? Akira double-crossed theEnd of the Cycle.”
Mira nodded.
“She never paid her end of the bargain.” Mira said. “TheEnd of the Cyclecaught up with her and she beat it in a fight. She’s literally using the stolen powers of a god.”
Once again, the assembled leadership fell silent.
“And we kept Akira on our side for months.” Kelly breathed. “I guess that means we can rule out theEnd of the Cycleagreeing to help us. What about the other four?”
“We already have two of the Shroud-Beings on our side.” Mira said. “That gives us a huge advantage already.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be big enough.” Bradford said. “Not if the reports we’ve been hearing are any measure of true.”
The Commander was talking about the now-daily flow of starships arriving at Earth. Every day, vessels from all over the Galaxy arrived, bringing news of how the Beast was now wielding incredible Psionic powers and was completely unstoppable in the field of battle. Bradford turned to Mira and asked:
“You said the Eater of the Worlds give martial prowess, right? Do you have any idea where we could find it? How would we communicate with the Shroud?”
Mira folded her arms in thought. Truthfully, she had no idea where the Eater of Worlds was, and was quite happy to keep it that way. She had already fought it once and wasn’t too keen on sharing a battlefield with it again. Reluctantly, she suggested asking the Whisperers in the Void.
…
One by one, Mira, Bradford, and Kelly shuffled into the laboratory where Tygan and Vahlen were working on Duane, Violet, and the Composer of Strands. All three individuals had been strapped down on their gurneys and were conscious. When they arrived, Doctor Vahlen was asking the trio a series of questions from a clipboard while Tygan had a surprising discovery to reveal.
“When Mihaka mentioned that the Shroud-Beings are able to fuse themselves to Gifted individuals, I decided to take another look.” Tygan said. “Come closer, Commander. You may find this interesting.”
Doctor Tygan gestured to the face of the Composer of Strands. Mira realized that she was looking at an elderly Human male whose right arm had been completely severed at the shoulder. The man’s hair and beard had grown wild and out of control, but there was something strangely familiar about him. Bradford was the first one to figure it out!
“That’s Chaplain Petoskey!” Bradford gasped.
“Impossible!” Kelly replied. “He was killed when we raided the Alien Fortress.”
“According to Captain Robinson’s after-action-report, no one actually saw Petoskey die.” Tygan pointed out. “He was last seen being knocked to the ground by a Psionic attack.”
“Furthermore,” Vahlen added, “All medical examinations confirm that Chaplain Petoskey is very much alive. I detect all of the brain activity you would normally see in a ninety-one-year-old man.”
Mira let out an awed sigh and brushed one hand on the Composer’s face, which she now recognized as belonging to Ignatius Petoskey. The old Chaplain's mouth opened and the Composer of Strands spoke in a mournful tone:
“This man was injured, dying. He was willing to pay any price to see his comrades again.”
“So, Ignatius made a covenant with you, then?”
“Yes. One of desperation, the terms were quite favorable to me.”
Director Kelly frowned.
“I’m not too sure how I feel about that.” She said.
“And you?” Mira directed her voice towards Violet, but it was the Whisperers in the Void who replied:
“Someone told this girl what we are and where to find us.” The Whisperers admitted. “Her motivation was built upon greed, but like your fallen Chaplain, the bargain was struck during a moment of life-threatening danger. The terms favored us.”
“Someone?” Bradford repeated.
“Akira Robinson.” The Whisperers in the Void repeated. “She considers it of the utmost importance that Humanity seizes control of ourselves and our kin.”
This… this was not the response Mira had been expecting, not by a longshot. She had thought she finally understood Akira’s plans, she had strongly believed she had the whole thing figured out! And now, in the most casual of ways, here was the Whisperers in the Void telling Mira that her guess was so badly off!
Bradford must had read the look of shock on Mira’s face because he turned to Violet and asked:
“Where are the other two, the Eater of Worlds and the Instrument of Desire?”
“The Instrument is being delivered to you.” The Whisperers replied. “It is already on its way here. As for the Eater, we can sense its satisfaction.”
Violet’s head turned towards Mira; her eyebrows raised.
“The Eater has not tasted such delicious flesh in a very long time. It has been quite happy since Robinson passed it on to his wife. Although that may change once Robinson and Jericho return home.”
Oh… oh, no…Oh, no!
…
Saturday, July 5, 2036 – 4:45pm
Honolulu, Oahu Island, Hawaiian Republic
A group of adolescent Vipers were sunning themselves on the sidewalk in front of the apartment complex where Chihiro Tachibana lived. Most neighbors had grown accustomed to the sight of lazy serpents in the summertime, as these reptilian aliens were cold-blooded and needed to keep warm as much as possible. A young Python had curled herself up on the concrete stairs and was soaking up as much sunlight as she could get away with, ignoring the alarmed hisses of her friends and the squealing of tires until it was nearly too late.
Opening her eyes, the Python saw an Armored Personnel Carrier painted with the blue and grey colors of the Reclamation Agency skidding to a halt just in front of the apartment building! The Python only had a few seconds to get away before a team of Humans and Hybrids erupted out of the vehicle and stormed up the stairway!
Once they found the apartment they were looking for, the Reclamation agents banged loudly on the door and shouted:
“Open up! Reclamation Agency with a search warrant!”
The sound of a baby crying could be heard before the door opened. Looking thoroughly annoyed and her hair messed up, Chihiro Tachibana poked her head out of the apartment and said:
“Look, guys, if you wanna come inside, just ask. No need to bring the f*cking Spetsnaz.”
Inside, the Reclamation Agents found a fairly typical and average home of a single mother. A large number of children’s toys were piled up in a far corner of the living room while a few select items were right in the middle of the floor. A package full of fresh new diapers occupied a rocking chair, whilst all the ingredients of heathy baby food were waiting to be mixed on the kitchen counter.
There were three other people in the apartment. XCOM soldier Sophia Kuznetsova was sitting at the dining table, holding a cup of hot tea in both hands. Sophia had been startled by the sudden entry and was shaking so much that her tea had spilled all over the table. Next to her, Sophie Ackermann was holding onto Sophia’s hand with a sorrowful expression on her own face. Himawari Robinson was squirming and flailing about in her high chair, frightened to no end by the big men with scary guns. Mira Mihaka followed the Reclamation agents into the apartment. While they started to search the place, Mira grabbed Chihiro by the shoulder.
“My old sword, Chihiro, where is it!?”
“Huh?” Chihiro seemed confused. “Smith said I could keep it. It’s in the trophy case in my room and- hey! What’s going on!”
Mira had stood up and relayed Chihiro’s words to the Reclamation Agents.
“Listen, I’ll be able to tell you everything very soon.” Mira explained. “For now, suffice to say that I was wrong, horribly wrong about that sword! But now is the time for action. I need to take you to XCOM Headquarters; Corporal Kuznetsova and Sergeant Ackermann, you both need to go back to the XCOM FOB!”
Sophia seemed to shrink into her chair while Sophie put a reassuring arm around her shoulder.
“Oh, no!” Chihiro gasped. “Mira, can we go together?”
Chihiro leaned in close and whispered into Mira’s ear.
“Sophia’s not in a good place these days. She really needs someone to chat with, and we were doing so well.”
Mira shook her head.
“Sorry. This is coming from Bradford.” She said. “We’ve got to get moving now, things are in motion already!”
Two Reclamation Agents emerged from Chihiro’s bedroom. One of them as carrying the Katana carefully while his partner opened up a specially designed case that caught Chihiro’s eye.
“Who the hell lines the inside of a weapon case with rocks?” she asked, pointing towards strange item.
As an Agent placed the Katana inside of the rock-lined case and snapped it shut, Mira replied:
“That’s synthetic Aetherium. It has a very short half-life and is only good for a few hours. That’s why we need to move now!”
Chihiro grabbed Himawari from her high chair and held her close.
“Am I missing something, Mira? Does this have anything to do which that Intel I sent you about Duane and Violet? Did you catch Akira?”
Mira shook her head.
“We have reason to believe that both Jericho and your husband might be alive, and that they’re on their way back to Earth right now!”
Chihiro froze, unable to think of anything to say. Instead, her mouth just bobbed open and closed as though she were some kind of fish. Behind her, Sophia set down her tea and stood up.
“Well, we’d better get going then. I’m sure Chihiro will want to meet Blake on the landing pad if it’s really true.”
“What about you?” Chihiro asked. “Will you be okay?”
Sophia adjusted her headscarf, making sure her features were covered up, and replied in a defiant tone of voice:
“Doesn’t really matter. No one ever misses me anyway.”
Sophia either didn’t see or chose to ignore the hurt expression on Sophie’s face.
