Victory Through Unity! (Planetary Annihiliation Self Insert Multicross)

[Flameal15k]

It took them about a week, but the various colonies on Chiron finally managed to arrange a date where their leaders could meet with me.

Now, meeting with them was mostly a formality, since I didn't really have anything to fear from them, but I didn't want to be feared by the natives: after all of the crap that had resulted in the Great Mistake (which was why these colonies were created in the first place), mankind deserved to have a reprieve.

Of course, there were a few things I needed to plan out before the meeting began.

It was moments like this that I'm glad I had a few extra opinions to work with.

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"First impressions will be important here," noted Fide. "Don't mumble when you speak, always make eye contact, and avoid appearing disinterested."

I'd set up a meeting room of sorts on my ship, centered around a circular table with five chairs. Kathikon, Fide and Synais were sitting together, as were me and Rory. Rory was only here because he'd asked, though I didn't ignore the possibility he might have something important to say.

My trio of advisors had also decided to try out some new attires, which I noticed seemed to go well with their personalities: Synais was wearing a bright red suit, with gold embroidery; while Kathikon was wearing a more muted set of business clothes, mostly light blue in color, but possessing a silver trim. As for Fide, she wore a stewardess' attire, dyed in Turquoise with a chrome trim. Rory, meanwhile, was wearing a yellow shirt with urple. I'd settled on deep black robes that resembled royalty, though only because my subjects had badgered me into it.

"Yes, those are good points, but those aren't the only things that will matter here," intoned Synais, earning him a glare from Fide. "Make sure you take a proper posture, one that commands respect, but not fear. Don't look down on them, but don't let them intimidate you: you could crush them all in a heartbeat, but don't let them know that."

"Okay."

"Finally, listen well to what they have to say," offered Kathikon. "You are acting as a diplomat here, so make sure that you consider everything they have to say before you act."

"Alright...... So, do you three have any suggestions on what I should ask them?"

"..........eh, I got nothing," remarked Synais.

"Really?" I doubted a being who was defined by their desire to sate their impulses really wouldn't suggest that I try to get something out of these upcoming negotiations.

"You stole all of their tech a while ago, and you can synthesize any resources they have. I hardly see them possessing anything you want. Might as well listen to Ms. Rules and Ms. Loyalty over here if you want better advice."

Ignoring the glares that Kathikon and Fide were giving Synais, I turned my attention toward Kathikon.

"Any suggestions?"

"Well, for starters, offer to help them with some of their non-violent issues: climate change, industrial production, etc. You could easily fix several of those issues just using baseline progenitor technology. Also, don't pick sides: it will interfere with your goal to improve life for all of the colonies on this planet."

"I see." Then I turned to Fide. "And what do you have to say?"

"......not much, but here's one thing: you shouldn't just give them any technology they need and not ask for anything in return."

Well, that was unexpected.

"Why?"

"People are going to assume that you have something to hide if you do that."

"Well, then what should I ask the for? Like Synais said, I don't exactly have anything I want from them."

"What about the signal?"

"......What?"

"The Progenitor Signal. The colonies here have been trying to make contact with the native Progenitors and have been doing so by studying a signal those beings made. A signal which, according to my data, you haven't taken from them. That technology could be beyond anything that exists in this universe."

"So I should ask them to help me locate the Progenitor Signal in exchange for my technology?"

"Bingo."

".......That is manageable. Well then, does anyone have anything else to say?"

"Couldn't you ask them for a few favors?"

That was from Rory.

".....what?"

"Asking them just to help you with finding the native Progenitors isn't really a fair agreement when you are giving them so much technology. Maybe you could also ask or convince them to offer you a favor that could be invoked at some point in the future?"

".......That's actually a good idea. Any objections?"

There were none.

"Well then, meeting adjourned."

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Having four other opinions to work with really helped when making tough decisions.

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AN: Read and Review. Also, I must once again thank @Mannfred Von Carstein for betaing this chapter!

This is Flameal15k, signing off!

 

[Ryven Razgriz]

Uh-oh, a PA Commander's favour? That's.... Not good during this 'peace' time between different factions.

 

[Flameal15k]

Uh-oh, a PA Commander's favour? That's.... Not good during this 'peace' time between different factions.

Click to shrink...

We'll see how this works out.

And keep in mind, it's FLAME who's asking for the favor: Rory was pointing out that Flame should probably ask them for a favor down the road because of all the tech he's considering giving them.

 

[Flameal15k]

And so the day of the meeting finally came. The event was held in Ayaan, which, assuming I remembered the game right, was the first colony you founded when playing as the African Union (aside from the capital, of course). The city was filled with all kinds of people, more than it was used to: New Agencies for all of the planet's major broadcasting networks, tourists who wanted to see who the new arrival to the planet was, and, of course, a large security detail to prevent accidents from happening. An incident at this summit would be a diplomatic nightmare, and I doubted that any of the major factions would make any slip ups in this regard: the fallout would ruin them.

For once, my expectations were met and exceeded.

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Since I had complete control of almost all electronics on the planet, I decided that the first thing to do was see just who was arriving and how. Well, not who was arriving: each colony was sending their respective leaders to this summit. Sending anyone else in their stead would be seen as a sign of weakness, cowardice, or hubris. How and with whom they arrived, though, was still up in the air.

First to arrive was Barre himself: the man was the one who ran the city (or at least gave the orders to the governor), so it was expected of him to appear first, as host. Next came Fielding and Elodie, each escorted by a fairly large security team. Presumably, they felt the need to arrive first since they belonged to the other members of the Triumvirate that met me. Appearing later might have lost them face, or something like that: I didn't really know that much about politics at the time, okay?

Next to arrive was Reginaldo, who, much to my surprise, had a relatively small security detail. At first, I was baffled that he was sending in such a small force. Then I examined their gear, and realized that the six or so men he had with him were carrying some of the most advanced weapons on the planet, which were also surprisingly robust. That told me all I needed to know: he wanted to rely on quality here. Make a statement that his troops are better than everyone else's.

Following him was Kozlov, who was joined by both a team of regular soldiers and a trio of CNDR war bots. Cutting edge tech, if I do say so myself, with better fighting skills than a dox. I could destroy them fairly easily if push came to shove, but I'd lose quite a few doxes trying. I think Vadim had the same idea in mind as Reginaldo: use a display of technology to try and intimidate me. Of course, since his opponent was someone that could easily hack all of his robots, that strategy was definitely a failure.

The rest were quick to follow. I saw troops ranging from human-alien hybrids to cyborgs to perfected humans and, owing to Chungsu, some troops that could hardly be considered human anymore. Seriously, Firaxis was right about the Harmony-Supremacy archetype embodying power by any means and creeping out everybody.

Though, considering what I was going to do with that tech in the future, I was hardly one to judge.

Of course, now that all of the other leaders had arrived, I needed to arrive soon, otherwise they might assume I was, at the very least, not punctual. Everything matters in the world of politics, especially the small details.

Well, might as well arrive in style.

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The ship I arrived in was an experiment with the Spore tech I had at my disposal: mostly designed to look cool, but without sacrificing function too much. As for protection, my security detail consisted of six robots, all designed to resemble the basic marines used on planet. Best to hide my armies nature as a force of machines for now.

My arrival was a rather grand affair, with an escort from Barre's own tacjets, right up to the landing pad. Once I disembarked, my robo-marines assumed a protective position and we began our advance into the meeting hall.

"So, anything I need to keep in mind for this, besides what you said?" I asked to my advisors, taking advantage of the fact that, as AIs, their mind were linked to mind.

"Be cautious," warned Synais. "They're obviously checking to see if you have any weaknesses. Keep your guard up, but don't let it make you terrifying."

"Also, pay attention to everyone," pointed out Kathikon. "You are a living computer, and due to all of the Crogenitor advances added into your Promethean body, you should be able to perceive things faster than anyone else in the room. Look for anyone whose acting shifty and see if they make mistakes."

"Lastly, be rational here, and humble, too," offered Fide. "While you are above them, don't act like it: it's rude and will only sour any future relations you'll want to build with them."

"Um, I think you guys are forgetting something," interjected Rory.

"And what, dear boy, is that," asked Synais, with a hint of venom in his voice....well, mental voice.

"What, exactly, is the name of our team?" was my son's response.

....................crap. I'd gone through pretty much everything needed for this meeting, but I hadn't thought up a name for my forces.

"....Um...well.....good point, squirt."

Yeah, Synais, apologize for your blunder. Though since none of my advisors had pointed that out, the blame fell on all of them, as well as on me.

"Well," offered Fide, "we need a name for our 'team'. It should probably relate to your name, commander, since you created this team from scratch, but I have little else to offer in support for this....problem."

Well, let's see: name related to Flameal15k, so something fiery sounding. Also, I have a confederacy of aliens following me, so there's that..

And now I had a name. Hopefully, no one thought it was too weird.

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After a few minutes of walking, I finally arrived at the meeting room and took up a seat at the discussion table. Barre, perhaps as an attempt at humility, had chosen a circular table for this meeting. That, I could respect: no head to the table meant no explicit leader, so everyone at the table was an equal.

Once I arrived, Barre decided it was time for the meeting to begin.

"Welcome, fellow brothers and sisters. Today, we welcome a new arrival to our home."

Then, he turned his attention to me.

"Allow me to introduce myself: I am Samatar Jama Barre, Kubwa Mjomba (great uncle) of the People's African Union."

Then, one by one, the rest of the leaders introduced themselves, and relatively quickly at that. I think that they rehearsed this part of the meeting.

For the record, data my worms snatched indicated that really was the case.

"Susan Fielding, CEO and CFO of the American Reclamation Corporation."

"Elodie, Governess of the Franco Iberian colonies on Chiron."

"Reginaldo Bolicar, Commander of the Brasilian Expeditionary Force to Planet Chiron."

"Daoming, head of the Pan Asian Cooperative."

"Kavitha, Leader of the Protectorate."

"Hutama, Prime Minister of Polystralia's Seeding Colonies on Chiron."

"Vadim Kozlov, Commander of Slavic Federation operations on Chiron."

"Arshia Kishk, Leader of Al Falah's colonies on Chiron."

"Duncan Hughes, Prime Minister of the North Sea Alliance's colonies on Chiron."

"Lena Ebener, Director of INTEGR operations on Chiron.""

Han Jae Moon, Chungsu Planetary Commander."

Then, finally, it was my turn to introduce myself.

"I am impressed by the myriad colonies that inhabit this world: we only had one seeding group reach our world, and we have lost the records of where it came form. Furthermore, my superiors have requested that I not offer my name to you for security reasons. All of that being said, I am Commander Flame, Leader of the Infernum Federation."

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I was surprised that they actually went along with what I said.

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AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!

 

[Ryven Razgriz]

Well... Ignis Federation? Homura Collective? Fotia Coalition? Firebrand Cooperative? Brandstelle Union? Flamme? Fira? Fayra? Firaga?

 

[Flameal15k]

Well... Ignis Federation? Homura Collective? Fotia Coalition? Firebrand Cooperative? Brandstelle Union? Flamme? Fira? Fayra? Firaga?

Click to shrink...

I like all of those names, but Infernum is what I went with.

Also, I'm going to meet several Homura's in this story, so that one is off the list instantly.

 

[Flameal15k]

Heads up, I now have art for this story!

Here's the ship Commander Flame used to arrive at the summit: The Envoy Class Diplomatic Transport Aircraft!



If that doesn't show up, here's a link:

Envoy Class Diplomatic Transport Aircraft

 

[Ryven Razgriz]

Img not showing up, link is working though.

 

[Flameal15k]

Img not showing up, link is working though.

Click to shrink...

I considered that. I'm not sure how to fix it, though.

 

[Flameal15k]

Things proceeded smoothly after I introduced myself, as the various leaders I was meeting with seemed to be more interested in understanding my interests rather than my choice of naming. Given that this was an event of massive political proportions, they likely found the oddities regarding my faction's name to be of trivial importance at the moment. A sentiment I was only too happy to share with them.

With a name to tack onto my forces now available, the assembled council wasted no time in attempting to learn exactly why I had arrived here, making my job quite a bit easier than expected.

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"So, Commander Flame," began Fielding, "am I correct to presume that you were the pilot of the colossal walker that arrived without warning onto this planet only slightly longer than a week ago?"

"Indeed, you are correct."

"Your walker arrived by means that were previously unknown to us accept in theoretical cases," remarked Vadim, "as it appeared that you reached our world by some form of teleportation. We have been making small steps into that field, but your people appear to have a much greater understanding of that area of study, given that they teleported you here within a three story high walker."

"We were lucky; we managed to find ruins belonging to an alien race that had mastered that field of research. When we managed to decipher their language, this was one of many boons we gained from their technology."

It wasn't a complete lie, and they'd probably buy it, at least for now.

'Nice job there,' responded Fide. 'You've allayed their fears without giving them too many other reasons to be suspicious of you.'

'I know, so what now?'

'Keep on answering their questions, and don't even questions that would compromise your cover story. If that happens, lie. We'll help you out as needed.'

Well, that was reassuring. Back to the conversation at hand.

"So, what was your homeworld like?" asked Moon. All things considered, he was likely trying to probe for intel on how my forces would act. The culture of a civilization was shaped by its home, which in turn shaped its armies; a desert world with few resources, for example, would produce people who value those resources to the best of their ability, which meant they'd have a small, but very powerful army.

"Not very different from this one in terms of environment," was my answer. This world had a variety of biomes on it, which helped ensure the cultural differences between the colonies did not break down, but instead grew and diverged even further. My comment indicated a varied culture, which meant a versatile and varied army.

"Interesting," replied Moon. "Garden worlds like this one are rare in the cosmos, so your seeding mission was exceptionally lucky to find one, just as ours were. "

"We were. Next question."

"My apologies for being blunt, senhor*," began Reginaldo, "but I believe one question needs to be answered now."

"Well, what question is that?"

"This machine you arrived in, does it have any military capabilities?"

Well, leave it to the general to ask the most pressing question. Luckily, I'd prepared for this.

"Yes, it does. We did not want to send out an envoy here unarmed, so we did add weapon systems to the walker I arrived in. I assure you, though, that I have no intention of going to war with any of your colonies. We have decided not to interfere militarily with the running of your society."

Reginaldo relaxed at that statement. I doubted he was completely assured in regards to my intentions, but knowing that I preferred peace meant that he didn't have to worry about conflict in the immediate future. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to worry about it in the long term, either.

Next to speak was Hutama. "You said that you do not intend to interfere with the running of our society militarily, correct."

Wow, he noticed how suspiciously specific my answer to Reginaldo's query had been. No wonder he'd been chosen to lead Polystralia's Seeding Mission.

"Correct."

"Therefore, may we assume that you wish to seek more....benevolent paths when interacting with our colonies?"

"Indeed."

"I see. Are you interested in trade, then? Surely your superiors would send you out here unless they could expect something to gain from this venture?"

"You are, in your own words, spot-on."

'Nice,' responded Synais. 'Flatter him, it'll make him lower his guard, but don't try too hard, or he'll get suspicious.'

'Thanks for the advice.'

"You flatter me" was Hutama's response ,"but I believe that, for now, trade should not be our focus. There is so much more we'd like to know about your people first."

"Very well, what else would you like to know."

"Your superiors sent you here, knowing that there would be humans on the other side to interact with" began Kozlov.

"Yes, they did."

"That implies that they had a way to know that this world was inhabited. What was that?"

"The Progenitor ruins we encountered included designs for a scanner of sorts that could detect intelligent life, or at least communications sent by them. An advanced version of S.E.T.I., if you will. We ultimately owe much of our success to being lucky in regards to where our ship landed."

I knew that they still had information on S.E.T.I. from scanning their databases, so they wouldn't question me about that topic.

"So, can we presume that your people found us to be their closest neighbors in the cosmos and decided to pay us a visit?" asked Elodie.

"Not exactly."

"How so?" asked Hughes.

"Our reason for coming to this planet is that you have intact Progenitor ruins here. we determined this when one of your transmissions emitted a fragment of a signal we believe to have been made by that civilization."

"So, you came here to broaden your knowledge on the Progenitors?" asked Arshia.

"No."

"What do you mean by no?" asked Lena.

"The Progenitor ruins on our home-planet do not match the ones on this planet in terms of architectural design and other features. All evidence indicates that they belong to two distinct species."

"Are you saying that you are here to seek out the secrets of this new alien race?" asked Daoming.

"Correct. Helping your colonies advance, however, carries a higher level of priority."

".....Can we presume that you would be willing to offer some of your technology in exchange for the information you desire?" questioned Kavitha.

"......Correct."

"Well, then, I believe there are only a few more questions to ask," remarked Fielding. I was amazed no one seemed to take offense to her bluntness. Then again, it seemed as if everyone in this room had declared an unspoken truce to size up the unknown power using a Commander.

"And those would be?"

"What do you have to offer us?" asked Barre. "We are all interested in trying to work for our mutual benefits, Commander Flame, but you must realize that we will not make any agreements with you unless we are aware that we will not be cheated out of our greatest advancements for what would amount to pocket change."

'Be honest,' asked Kathikon. 'You should offer them the advanced engineering tech, plus some of the matter and energy creation technology you have. When you can break the laws of physics with ease, everyone is going to want your tech.'

"Very well. In exchange for knowledge about the Progenitors of this world, I am permitted to offer you advanced engineering technology. I'm sending the exact details on the technology I will offer now. Only after you have examined the specifications of my offer shall we continue our negotiations."

I probably should've mentioned this earlier, but everyone who had come to this summit had brought along a tablet with them, which I assumed was for examining presentations. Presumably, they expected me to offer one at some point during this summit. When the details of what I was offering them reached their screens, I was amused to see all of their faces light up in shock.

No surprise there, really. It was only natural to react this way when you found out that you were being given access to, let's see, nanolathes, reactors that could violate the law of conservation, and matter fabricators that could use said reactors to create an unlimited amount of mass. Access to these techs would eliminate the issue of scarcity form a society forever, which was every leader/economist's dream.

To be offered this in return for only a few research notes (or what amounted to them) was unbelievable, to say the least.

Eventually, the leaders managed to recover from their stupor and returned their thoughts (and attention) to me, after first having a (rather complex) conversation through facial expressions alone.

"We have examined your offer," remarked Barre, "and we have only one question."

"And that would be?"

"Do you have any other requests?"

'A favor would be nice,' noted Rory.

"Not at the moment, but could I Perhaps ask for a favor from all of you, to be invoked at a later date?"

The twelve people in front of me shared a glance, then nodded.

"We find those terms acceptable."

"Then we have accordance......I apologize, but I have no more to say at the moment."

"Understandable," responded Barre. "This meeting is now adjourned."

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Well, that went better than I expected. Way better than I expected.

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AN: Well, finally got this out. Just a heads up, I have college and a job to manage, so updates may be less frequent.

* Senhor is, according to google translate, Portuguese for sir. Since Brazil was colonized by Portugal, I assume that he would speak Portuguese instead of Spanish, though in retrospect, I wouldn't be surprised if he spoke both.

Sorry for no Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Jokes!

Read and Review (seriously, criticism is needed to make this story better)! This is Flameal15k, signing off!

 

[Ryven Razgriz]

I do hope that there'll be at least one naughty kid with arms that would actually attack the SI so the SI can demonstrate to them what kind of military power they (SI) have.

 

[Flameal15k]

I do hope that there'll be at least one naughty kid with arms that would actually attack the SI so the SI can demonstrate to them what kind of military power they (SI) have.

Click to shrink...

That will be brought up soon enough.

 

[Flameal15k]

Things were quiet across Chiron immediately after the summit; I guess people were coming to terms with the fact they were not alone anymore. I mean, they knew they weren't the last people alive, since the four late landers had proved otherwise, but now they knew (or at least assumed) that Seeding missions to other worlds had succeeded. They were right about that, as my own S.E.T.I. systems were detecting signals from several nearby stars. I'd made sure to inform the Leaders that I was launching ships and satellites into orbit, so that they wouldn't assume I was trying to get the jump on them. Even if they didn't believe me, the fact I was telling them showed I was willing to be civil.

Additionally, I began working on furthering my relations with Planet. Besides creating more forests, I also started allowing the aliens to nest around my structures, which involved planting Xenomass around them, then adding in Miasma. It was tedious, but it was paying off, and the aliens were letting me work in peace. Sometimes, they even offered gifts in the form of artifacts I would normally need to recover from their nests. Looks like being green had its benefits.

Finally, I began researching the Progenitor Technology I'd received from the locals: it wasn't the whole set, obviously, but it was still pretty interesting. While I knew the locals didn't want to give up any aces they had in their sleeves against my tech base, what they did have was still of use to me. I was especially interested in some of the artifacts that could be created via examining Progenitor relics; with what I had, I was managed to assemble the Relativistic Data Bank, which boosted my hacking defense software to absolutely ludicrous levels. As in, way beyond what the normal Commander hacking defense protocol's offered.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.

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It started a week after the summit: someone said that they looked forward to doing business with my people, and that they believed they could coexist. Another guy didn't like that, so he wrecked the first guy's car. That doesn't really seem like much, right?

On it's own, it isn't.

The problem was, this was not an isolated incident. Reports of confrontations like this started popping up all over the planetary news networks within ours of the first incident. Apparently, there were quite a few people who didn't like me at all, but no one wanted to be the first to express it publicly. The random man that busted the car, though, had provided the spark needed to light this powder keg and set off a huge wave of xenophobia toward me. Now, it wasn't the majority opinion, thank god. Of course, given time, it would grow.

The worst part of this mess? I didn't have any way to fix it. I could offer more technology, but I wasn't sure how they colonies would use it, and I doubted that none of them would attempt to use the tech for violent purposes. If I intervened and attacked the protesters, I'd just prove their point. Do nothing at all, and the sentiment against me would only increase. I was trapped between Scylla and Charybdis here, and their was no easy way out.

At least, that was how it started. Just three days later, I found a solution.

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"Attention, you are approaching the Infernum Federation Exclusion Zone, as has been specified by the Ayaan Accords. Turn back now."

The source of that voice was one of my doxes. As for the exclusion zone thing, that was one of the stipulations that came from the summit of Ayaan: my forces wouldn't expand past some designated borders, and in exchange, no unauthorized personnel would enter my territory.

That was something the guy driving the (larger than normal) trade convoy truck that was currently parked right in front of the dox just didn't seem to understand. He'd been here for about 10 minutes, refusing to budge. In fact, while my dox had been berating him, he'd taken out a cell phone and called someone, presumably his boss. The markings on his vehicle indicated he'd come from the ARC, but a quick scan of the ARC's public and private delivery schedules showed that his usage of the vehicle was unauthorized. In fact, a set of rovers were on the way to apprehend him now.

Mr. Unauthorized apparently found that out, because the minute he got off the phone, he floored the gas on his trade vehicle (Truck? Trailer? I'm still not sure what it should be called) and rammed my dox. The dox pretty much shrugged the impact off, while the front half of the caravan was totaled and the driver got knocked out. A nearby CNDR drone quickly moved in to stabilize the trespasser; I wanted to send him to the authorities alive so that he would not become a martyr in the eyes of my detractors.

Of course, that did leave me wondering what was in the caravan. So, once the CNDR finished stabilizing the trespasser, it received a new directive: examine the caravan's cargo. In a matter of moments, it had unlocked the rear door and was examining the cargo. It found, in order: food, tools, weapons, drugs, research data, some random pieces of tech I didn't bother to examine further...... and children. A lot of children. All of whom appeared to be malnourished.

............OKAY, WHY ARE THERE CHILDREN IN A TRADE CARAVAN?!

After taking a moment to make sure that the children were free of an other maladies, I redirected the CNDR to search the front of the caravan for a manifest, as well as make sure that our trespasser hadn't died and add more bandages to cover his wounds. A few minutes and bandages later, I found a set of notes in the glove compartment. Analysis of the ink indicated that they had only been written a few hours ago.

Take all cargo to designated drop off point. Once there, its sale will be discussed. Kids will be fed and worked once location is reached. You will be given previously agreed payment at delivery once cargo has been verified, plus 5% of the profits made from this.

Beneath that were a series of names:

Alan Matthews
Teresa Lopez
Elisha Amos
Conrad Fischer
Elizabeth Jones
Peter Gorynych
May Su
Miguel Costa
Bianka Nyman
Hideki Ito
Marion Calavera
Percival Walters

Twelve names. The matched the number of children that had been in the cargo area. A quick scan revealed that these children had been sent to an orphanage after their parents had been killed during an industrial accident. Said orphanage had lost track of them a few days before the summit, owing to a particularly bad fire sweeping through their home city. From the looks of it, they'd been, well, kidnapped, and were to be taken to a nearby station. Adding to their ordeal, they hadn't been able to secure a lot of good food at the orphanage due to an unexpected disease cutting down harvests, and they clearly hadn't been fed by their captor. What would've happened after they reached the station, I had no clue, but considering what else was in the caravan, it probably wasn't a good.

Well, now they were safe and could be given proper treatment, and the authorities could intervene.....or I could deal with these criminals.

Which might boost my reputation: after all, they had trespassed or my territory, and they weren't exactly doing themselves favors by carrying several illegal items on their caravan....

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While this wasn't necessarily the best solution to my problem, it was an effective one. Everything else that came from it were just nice bonuses, even if they changed my plans for being a commander.

XXXXXXXXXX

AN: This will be the last chapter for a while, as my beta, Mannfred Von Carstein, is out for the
weekend. Expect the next chapter in about a week.

That being said, Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!

 

[Ryven Razgriz]

Double Chapter in your post, please fix?

 

[Vianca]

Double Chapter in your post, please fix?

Click to shrink...

And instead of hour, you typed "our", please fix that as well.

Mmm, X-com is connected to this verse?
Does that mean you're going to send a few ships back to Earth?
If so, is this all after X-com or X-com II?
Just think of all the goodies you could get that way, including the mental upgrade.
Hey, would that mean that Starcraft might also lay in this verse, by change? (Ghosts & Spectres)

Looks to me you can now do a couple if things, relax, do some research, write a extra large chapter or all the above.


Mass Effect could be good, would net you Eezo or should I say biotics?
Then Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha for the mana generator, unless you want to go Negima! Nagi Negi for the heck of it.

 

[Flameal15k]

Fixes have been made.

StarCraft will get its own arc, because I have big plot plans for there.

XCOM wise, that's spoilers, so ask me in a PM if you really want to know.

I'm planning on relaxing for the time being and doing college homework, so no new chapters until next week.

Also, Lyrical Nanoha isn't something I have plans for yet, but that may change soon.

 

[Flameal15k]

My mission to deal with the crime syndicate was, well, interesting.

Probably because I wasn't expecting to have help doing so.

I'd already informed the various colonies of what I was doing, as well as why. I made the claim that my'people' didn't really like what this syndicate was doing, and the probable fates of the children had I not intervened were very personal issues for me. They seemed understanding, but asked that I try to keep my actions discreet.

Of course, when things really kicked off, well, surprising doesn't even begin to describe what happened.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It wasn't hard for me to get a good view of the syndicate's station. According to the data I'd discovered, the station was known as Shackleton, while the syndicate was code named Blind Eye, supposedly because many people turned a blind eye to their operations. Considering how big the list of crimes attributed to them was, as well as the fact that only a dozen of their number had been arrested, it was a good name. Rough estimates suggested that they only had a thousand or so actual members, and that they went to great lengths to hide who these members were. Even the estimates admitted they could be wildly off, since they'd been reduced to guess work. These people were good at covering their tracks.

The note I'd recovered from the caravan also had some more details on it that made my job easier: once the caravan arrived at the station, it was supposed to change some of its cargo, then head to a nearby dome. This way, they could justify it as moving supplies to the dome. Occasionally, people traveled in the caravans to reach the domes, so if the kids were found, they had an excuse.

Unfortunately for them, that excuse did not work on me.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Now, most people would probably want to go into the dome guns blazing and utterly dismantle the operations of Blind Eye. Most people aren't me: I had no idea who was in there, and for all that I knew, there could be innocent workers in there who would make excellent hostages. So, time for stealth.

It wasn't hard to make a spy plane that could study the dome with impunity: x-rays scanners, radar and sonar deflecting hull, thermal shielding and visual camouflage were all I needed to turn a tac-jet into a spy plane. Pretty soon, said plane was skimming over the dome with impunity, while also deploying fly sized drones to scan the inside of the dome.

The results validated my early thoughts: there were roughly 200 armed personnel inside the dome, as well as 100 unarmed staff. Unfortunately, some places were too well secured for me to get access to, but among the things I did find were assembly lines for weapons, armor and vehicles, as well as an R&D facility. Clearly, these guys had their bases covered.

That included their security: they had plenty of automated turrets, checkpoints and shaped charges in their base, alongside tons of drones. While I easily subverted these defenses, the fact they existed indicated these criminals were well prepared for a fight. Plenty of armories and munitions depots were scattered around the base, and these things weren't hackable: they didn't have any access ports for me to hack into. Oh well.

While the armories may not have been hackable, the perimeter sensors were, so I wasted no time in setting them to always broadcast the 'all clear' signal. While this was going on, an army of CNDR drones amassed outside the base. Best to remain anonymous for the moment, and since CNDR drones were among the most common robots already on the planet, they were perfect for this mission. The sun was starting to set, and since a day assault would be really obvious due to the fact that canceling out the sensors didn't include disabling the Mark-One Eyeball, it would be best if I attacked at nig-why is there a dropship landing near my robots?

Heedless of the army of warbots (which were, admittedly, stealthed), the ship deposited four people before taking off: two men and two women. One carried a sniper rifle, another an LMG, a third an assault rifle, while the fourth had a shotgun. All four weapons had areas with red highlights on them. I thought they looked familiar, but no bells were ringing on that subject. Still, might as well tune into their communications.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

'Gamma one, reporting in' went the man with the LMG

'Gamma two, reporting in' replied the man with the sniper rifle.

'Gamma three, reporting in' announced the woman with the shotgun.

'Gamma four, reporting in' finished the woman with the rifle.

"Alright team," began gamma one, "We've got a job to do: infiltrate the base, incapacitate all Blind Eye personnel, collect the research, then get out." Huh, so there was apparently some important research going on in the base. "Any questions?"

"Yes," responded Gamma Four, "do we have any additional intel on the enemy?"

"Not much, other than that this dome is one of their major operating facilities. Take it down, and we cripple Blind Eye."

"Good to know. I have one more question."

"Go ahead."

"Do we know how the newest arrival on Chiron will act? I mean, his forces were spotted moving here."

"No intel there, but if his forces show up, try to avoid conflict with the. Best we don't antagonize the new guy."

"Understood. How long until mission is a go?"

"Ten minutes." That was when nightfall would commence. "Good luck."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sure enough, ten minutes later, the team mobilized, as did my CNDRs. My bots quickly reached the front gates, while the unknown force proceeded to circle around and infiltrate the dome from the side.

As cool as going in guns blazing would be, this mission required stealth, so all of the weapons the CNDRs were carrying were silenced and non-lethal: taking down these guys alive would not only make me appear more heroic, but also provide the colonies with people to interrogate, which would do more long term damage to the syndicate. However, despite what Metal Gear and movies will tell you, non-lethal weapons take time to take effect: even with careful modification, it took a while to clear out the ground level of the dome. Apparently, the unknown guys I was working with shared this mindset, going out of their way to spare their foes, though they weren't above knocking out Blind Eyes with the butts of their guns.

Once the first level was cleared, the descent began. My CNDRs advanced through carefully, avoiding unnecessary fights while quietly taking down any enemy personnel that they encountered. I was silently thankful that I enjoyed playing stealth games, because my patience with those games meant that I could wait for my foes to come in close enough to take them out silently. As for my allies, they were just as cautious and quickly cleared out the opposition. When they started hacking into the base, I decided not to try and slip a worm into their systems: they'd given me the benefit of the doubt, so I would offer it to them.

Eventually, we reached the lowest level of the facility. From there, we parted: the CNDRs were headed for the arms facilities, while the gammas headed toward R&D. A spy bot followed them, its fly-sized body imperceptible to all without special sensors or really good eyesight. All personnel encountered were incapacitated non-lethally, leaving the total kill count at zero. Kill-bots my forces may be, but quite take downs are oh-so-satisfying.

Once all the personnel managing them were down, I shut down the production facilities, but left them standing: they were, after all, evidence, and I needed all the evidence I could get here. You see, this dome was apparently designed for preservation of Old earth culture, so if it was destroyed outright, people would assume I wrecked a relic of our homeworld. If I left the dome intact with evidence that it wasn't being used for benign purposes, well, that made me look more heroic.

With the production line offline, I turned my attention to the R&D lab: Team Gamma, as they were apparently called, was busy hacking into the research logs. Nothing too big, mostly stuff on the native wildlife, but apparently, there was also research into the human genome here. Apparently, they were studying a unique mutation that had been present on Earth, but had increased on Chiron. In fact, Team Gamma was looking over a research log about it right now.

"While the mutation was fairly common on Earth, its providence has increased on Chiron. We can only speculate on why, but right now, the few test subjects we have are only providing inconclusive results. If we wish to understand this phenomenon, we will need a large population of subjects to examine and experiment on."

"So, do we have what we need, boss?" asked Gamma Two.

"Not quite, we still have one more thing we need to find," replied Gamma One. "Search the room, see if there are any hidden doors."

Sure enough, there was a hidden door behind a set of file cabinets. It was fingerprint locked, but that didn't help when the gatecrashers had several unconscious scientists with them who more than likely had access to the room. The door opened a couple of seconds later, and a quick hack ensured it would stay open. The team advanced through, with a few CNDRs following them shortly after. No way that I was gonna miss out on this.

The passage behind the door wound deeper into the earth than the rest of the facility, probably because whatever was at the end had best be kept out of prying eyes. I wondered what it was: space zombies? Super Soldiers New Combat droids?

What we found was none of the above. When the passage ended in another door, the team opened it, revealing people.

Lots of people. I wasn't exactly sure, but it looked like a hundred were stored here. All of them were hooked up to strange machines, which resembled life support systems. Those machines also resembled operating tables, making me rather uncomfortable just looking at them. Apparently, Team Gamma shared my sentiments.

"Holy hell, this is...Ugh, I don't know what to say, sir. How could they do this?" asked Gamma Three.

"I don't know, but they did. Four, get command on the horn, tell them we found our what we were looking for."

"Alright. Remember, we only got one dropship in range, so its gonna take time to get them all to safety."

Not if I could help it.

"Perhaps I could assist?"

To my surprise, only Gamma Three fired at me. Her shotgun had a surprisingly long effective range, as the shots only barely missed my CNDR. I immediately had drop its weapons and raise its arms, as hopefully, that would mollify Team Gamma.

Also, the gun apparently fired lasers. Somehow, this felt important, but I still wasn't getting it.

"I am not your enemy."

Gamma Three held up the CNDR for one moment, then lowered her gun.

"You're Commander Flame, aren't you?" she questioned.

"Correct. I was investigating this base because someone trespassed on my territory on this planet. Evidence from their vehicle indicates this was their destination. Additionally, I discovered that he was carrying several illicit items aboard his vehicle, as well as several children. I assumed they were to be pressed into illegal employment, but....well, it appears I was wrong. As for helping you, I could supply additional transports and provide medical assistance for all of the people in this facility."

"........Give me one reason to trust," was her response.

".....I can't."

".....Sir?"

".......Three, stand down. Unnecessary violence isn't his MO. He's tried to avoid conflict with everyone, even the natives. Besides, we could use the help."

"......Fine. Command needs to hear this, though."

"Already on it."

While Gamma One got to work talking to his command, I located the nearest computer terminal and had my CNDR start hacking. Once it was in, I began skimming through the files on hand, until I found one labeled test subjects. Opening it revealed a list of people who were now in this facility: apparently, they'd been screened for whatever mutation that these guys were looking for, then kidnapped. They'd been careful about it, though: most of the kidnapping had been done in the aftermath of disasters, where the death toll could be fudged without anyone noticing. Additionally, some of the people kidnapped didn't have this mutation (which they called 'the gift'), but has started asking too many questions, so they needed to be dealt with. These people were to be 'disposed of' at a later date.

Okay, this was disgusting.

Shortly after this, Gamma One finished his conversation with his superiors and said that they'd given me the greenlight to act. I told him that he would not regret this, then got to work getting transports above the base to evacuate everyone. We were in luck: there were elevators that could be used to transport the test subjects to the surface. Apparently, their use was monitored, but I did have one excuse: they needed to use the lifts to change out the vital fluid containers, as well as remove disposed subjects (this facility had none, but apparently, there were others out there, and quite a few subjects had expired at those. That these people treated other humans as disposable was....disgusting). A simple message informing the rest of the bases that several of the subjects had expired would give me enough time to get everyone out (they always moved the bodies off site for disposal).

As soon as the lifts were active, my CNDRs and Team Gamma got to work moving the subjects. As they could be safely removed from their machines, we had to move the life support devices themselves onto the lifts, which could still hold quite a few people on them. Once the lifts were full, they went up, the subjects were moved to the transports, full transports headed for my base, while new ones took their place. All in all, it took about two hours to get everyone out. Two very boring hours, because I soon found out that this base had relatively little information for me to examine. Apparently, they'd stored most of the data on their research off site. Figures.

Once the last transport left, Team Gamma decided it was time to evacuate the field. With nothing to loot from inside the base, I had to agree with them.

As they prepared to signal their dropship, Gamma Four walked up to one of my CNDRs.

"Thanks for the help."

"You are welcome."

Warning: Unidentified Aircraft detected.

What?

Turning toward the alert, I found that there was indeed an aerial vehicle headed my way. It looked like a gunship of some sort, but had no visible weapons. Also, it did not look like Team Gamma's dropship.

"What's up?" asked Gamma Four.

"There is an unidentified aircraft headed our way. I suggest you take cover."

Four's eyes went wide, before she told her squad to split. Just in time, too: the minute the aircraft arrived, it rotated 90 degrees and opened up its sides, revealing a group of armed soldiers inside. Several opened fire while the rest began roping down. Team Gamma quickly hid themselves behind a nearby set of buildings (apparently, this area was registered as a manufactory, and the lift was used to move products underground for safe keeping), as did my CNDRs. Once they were on the ground, the Blind Eye troops began to open fire.

So much for pacifism.

My CNDRs and Team Gamma returned firing, killing three soldiers, while I began moving doxes to assist my troops. As soon as I had some doxes in range, they opened fire, rapidly killing off the opposition.

Warning: Additional Aircraft detected. Unknown armor approaching.

OH COME ON!

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AN: Was going to post this and the ensuing battle as one chapter, but the flow didn't feel right. Oh well.

Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!

Edit: Yay! Fusou-Sama has noticed me.

 

[Ryven Razgriz]

Well... This is how Commanders do 'diplomacy'.

 

[Flameal15k]

To a degree.

Have you figured out who my allies are?

 

[Flameal15k]

One hour prior.....

Matthew Peters was not a fighter, but he was good at monitoring things. In his previous job as a financial manager for Polystralia, this had let him optimize his company's production while minimizing their losses. Prior to that, during a summer job at a supermarket, he'd paid such good attention to his salary that he knew that his boss was paying him 15 percent less than his coworkers. Most important of all, though, was that he had noticed that the computer firm he worked for was having small amounts of its profit siphoned off every month for a year.

He had attempted to inform his boss, only to find himself at gunpoint on his way home from work. It had turned out that the missing profits had been secretly sent to the Blind Eyes crime syndicate, as a form of protection money. They had not liked his interference in their operations, but at the same time, they were impressed with his analytical skills. For this reason, they had offered him a chance to join them, both as a financial manager, and as head of electronic security. No guns, just monitoring computers, they said.

Peters knew that if he said no, he was a dead man, but honestly, he would have said yes either without that incentive: he hated his coworkers, who seemed to be more interested in lazing around rather than getting the job done. The Blind Eyes were known for their efficiency, and he could appreciate that. The fact that both positions he had been offered were well paying was just a bonus.

Over time, his skills had lead him to gain a position monitoring communications in addition to the two he already had. It wasn't his forte, but he adapted fairly well. When all you had to do was make sure all three Blind Eye bases in the region were giving the correct broadcasts at the right times, being a member of the communication staff was an easy job.

Now, though, something had gone wrong. One base near an unaligned station had been broadcasting the all clear signal for three hours. Nothing odd, except that, two hours ago they should have broadcast that they were shutting down operations for the night. Additionally, they'd mentioned that they had to use some of the maintenance lifts to remove an expired test subject. Given the slip up in communications earlier, he doubted that this was sent by the base's comm staff. His superior agreed and had sent a task force to see what had happened. If they encountered a hostile presence, well, they had jets and tanks.

Soon, everything would be back to normal.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

With enemy air support inbound, I sent my CNDR's into cover while my doxes turned their attention toward the incoming armor. PA tech was incredibly overpowered, and it showed: of the 15 tanks I saw coming at me, I took out five easily, with my only real problem being that one of the doxes now had cracked armor. As for the aircraft, I pulled in a fighter patrol from my territory and sent them into battle. Since both my aircraft and my enemy's were drones, all that either of us really lost from the battle was time and money, but I could afford more of both than the Blind Eyes could.

As for my allies, they were digging in behind the nearest cover they could find: walls, old vehicles, even the manufactory itself. My CNDRs were also digging into the same area for cover, but I could afford to lose them. Though minimizing losses would be preferable here.

A few dropships managed to avoid my fighters and started disgorging their passengers. I quickly had a tank fire at some of them, leaving behind some funny looking salsa on the ground, as well as destroying a nearby assembly line. I wasn't too worried about expenses here: this place was supposed to have been demolished a few months ago, but someone had made sure the order never got sent. I assumed the Blind Eyes didn't want their operations to be revealed, as their base under this facility had been active for two years prior to my arrival.

While my tanks worked on dealing with the remaining enemy armor, I moved my CNDRs into a position to engage the enemy troops that had advanced too close for tanks to be effective counters. If I did attack with the tanks, I'd risk friendly fire. My CNDRs were equipped with laser rifles that let them make short work of the enemy troops. It wasn't even a fair fight, because I could give out ten different orders before they even had time to react.

Any troops that I missed were gunned down by Gamma Squad. A combination of fire from an LMG, assault rifle, sniper rifle, and a shotgun that actually had the range real shotguns had worked wonders on the opposition. Enemy troops found themselves having new holes burned into their bodies before they could even react. Also, despite what fiction may tell you, laser wounds are messy, and the battlefield was becoming soaked in blood. While that made me want to hurl, it was a sign that we were definetly winning.

Then, I noticed that one of the Blind Eyes had managed to outflank my CNDRs and was poised to attack Gamma Three. As I tried desperately to get a bead on him with one of my doxes, Three surprised me when she threw a rock at the guy, pulled out a sword, charged the stunned manned and cut him down. Then she got promptly resumed shooting at her foes with her laser shotgun.

Another dropship went down, this time courtesy of Gamma One, who had, in addition to an LMG, a very accurate rocket launcher. Somehow, he also managed to fit a grenade launcher into his kit, which he was using to disperse the Blind Eyes who were using the dropship's wreck as cover.

Pretty soon, the Blind Eyes were reduced to a few troops desperately tryin to fight back. With their enemy mostly dealt with, Gamma Four was trying to call in a dropship for pickup. She was doing this with some kind of drone, which I was kinda surprised I hadn't noticed earlier. It didn't take long for the drone to signal pickup, which would apparently arrive in two minutes. I quickly moved in transports of my own to bail out the forces I had: no sense in staying when you have completed your mission.

While we waited for the dropships to arrive, Gamma Two took out five men with just as many bullets, before trading his sniper rifle for a pistol and killing three more men in just as many seconds. Of course, then somebody wised up and threw a grenade at him, though due to thick cover, it only grazed him. To my surprise, while Gamma One gunned down the offending soldier, Four's drone moved in to patch up his teammate. Now I really wanted that design.

Sure enough, two minutes after the call was sent, the dropships arrived. The Blind Eyes seemed to realize that this was a problem, because they quickly opened fire on the dropship. As I prepared to gun them down, the dropship opened up, and out of it came a bluish blast that froze the offending troopers. A second later, a purple beam followed that blew them to pieces.

What the fu-OOOHHHHH.

Now it all made sense.

I waited until Gamma Squad was taking off before I dealt with the remaining troops. Nothing fancy, just a simple bombing run from a Bumblebee. Once that was done, I pulled out my forces and returned to my territory. To my surprise, Gamma Squad was sending me a transmission.

"Thank you for your assistance, Commander Flame."

"You are welcome. Your help was also appreciated."

Though, honestly, that wasn't surprising. After all......

THAT'S XCOM, BABY!

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AN: Read and Review. This is Flameal15k signing off!

 

[Ryven Razgriz]

You're planning to make lots of custom units right? I'd suggest making a thread about your units, their designations, class/purpose, weapons, appearance descriptions, tech/systems, etc. This way not only you can keep an eye on the progress of your tech advances but also us, readers.

 

[Flameal15k]

Will do.

 

[Flameal15k]

"So, how'd the mission go?"

"It was a success. Our meeting with the Commander was a nice bonus," replied Gamma One.

"Good to hear. We'll be back at base....right about now, actually."

In front of the transport, it appeared that there was just empty sky. Then, slowly, a huge airship began to appear, seemingly out of thin air. The skyranger took a moment to circle around the giant aircraft before settling into its hanger. As soon as it landed, its passengers began to disembark. First off was Gamma One, then Two, then Three and Four. Following them was Gamma Five, who had been asked to sit the mission out, owing to a leg injury. While she had reluctantly agreed, Five had still requested to be on standby in-case her powers ended up being necessary to save her team. She was rather happy she had been vindicated in her decision.

The penultimate passenger to depart the dropship was Gamma Six. Six would have walked with the team, except that he couldn't....walk that, it. This was not because he had leg injuries, rather, he simply didn't have legs, only a serpentine tail. Six was one of the vipers, some of the first aliens mankind had made contact with (at least publicly). The war that had followed had been harrowing, but man had ultimately triumphed in the struggle and broken the backs of their foes.

The aftermath of the conflict had been like many on Earth: some of the aliens had wished to die fighting, but others had sought clemency. Of those that had, a few had been secretly granted asylum on Earth, provided they did not draw attention to themselves. These aliens had been met with scorn by many members of XCOM, but over time, most of the racism had faded. Now, a fair amount of these aliens, including Sectoids, Vipers, Mutons and even a few Ethereals, had become integral parts of XCOM, especially in the aftermath of the great mistake. The sectoids, who had been enslaved by virtually every race they had met and had been reduced down to mostly clones and a few individuals still capable of reproduction, were especially grateful. As for the ethereals, well, XCOM had been surprised that any of them had survived. These ones seemed to be different from the normal ones, though: they appeared to be made almost entirely out of energy, like the outsiders.

Once Gamma six left the dropship, the pilot finally took it as her queue to leave. Marion Jones, codename Monarch, did enjoy being in the skyranger, but even she needed down time, especially after a late night mission like this: Night flights weren't her specialty, so she was looking forward to a few hours of sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The ship, code named the Avenger, had been the pet project of Raymond Shen in the aftermath of the First War. With no enemy to fight, XCOM had devoted itself to trying to understand their foes, examining what had been acquired and working to synthesize it. Elerium had proven difficult to create stable isotopes of, but once successful, it had revolutionized nuclear power. Meld had made cybernetic advancements and gene therapy far more viable then anyone had every imagined.

Still, even among those advances, Shen had preferred the Avenger. Part of this was because it acted as a sort of test bed for him, a place where he could test out some of the more....questionable ideas he and Vahlen had conceived, to see if they were viable for mass production. The craft had been made from a battleship, and was just as powerful as anyone had expected it to be. XCOM had been required to make sure the Council knew exactly where the ship was at any given time, but otherwise, they had relatively free reign over the ship.

One of the big benefits of alien alloys was that they lasted a long time. With proper maintenance, they could last for over a thousand years without needing to be replaced. This meant that, since its creation, the Avenger hadn't needed too much maintenance, something invaluable when you wish to remain clandestine.

None of this, though, was on Gamma Team's mind as they traversed through the ship, careful to avoid the sections that were under maintenance. While most of the headed to the armory to return their gear, One and Four were headed to the command center: the Commander would want to debrief them personally.

As they trudged through the base, they passed by a room filled entirely with water. Within, green sectoids worked side by side with XCOM personnel, lizard-like creatures and what appeared to be sapient lobsters to create weapons that worked underwater. These beings were reminders of the Second Alien War, one that no one had expected. It had started when flying submarines of all things had become attacking cruise ships, before moving onto coastal cities, oil rigs and naval fleets. It turned out that these ships had come from an even larger mothership that had crashed into Earth some 3000 years before the First Alien War. XCOM had managed to destroy the ship and defeat the new aliens, but they didn't have time to celebrate: the ship had poisoned the atmosphere in its death throes, and before anything could be done to fix it, the great mistake had occurred.

Talks had been held over whether XCOM should have disbanded, but ultimately, they had fallen through, and XCOM remained, though more publicly known then expected. That being said, only Chungsu knew much about them on this planet, and XCOM was intent on keeping things that way.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At last, One and Four arrived at the Command Center. The Commander had already taken a seat and was ready for debrief.

"Great timing. Are you two ready to begin?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Good. So, how successful was the mission?"

"One hundred percent: Blind Eye lost their test subjects, we got rid of all their research data, and their retaliation force is down for the count," responded Gamma One.

"Excellent. That ensures that their backers will not be a problem in the foreseeable future."

"Indeed. Though, really, we shouldn't have expected those traitors to go down after we smashed their base during the First War: they're too good at hiding for that too work," noted Four.

"Correct. Now you mentioned that the newest arrival to our world assisted you in completing your mission. Specifically, he offered to take the subjects to safety. Am I correct?"

"Yes sir," replied One.

"Do you believe he has any malicious intent in regards to them?"

"No. He claimed his people didn't really like what had happened to all of those who'd been kidnapped. Odds are he'll probably return them when he's sure that they'll be okay."

"Of course, since the planet is recovering from a recent famine, that might not be viable. Why do those bastards have to go around, manipulating everyone, when human extinction is a likely outcome?" questioned Four. "They need to get their priorities straight. I mean, seriously, poisoning tons of harvests so that they could get better market prices on the remaining supplies? Even Fielding wouldn't stoop that low."

"True. One last question: was there any information you were able to glean from your encounter with the commander that might give us insights to any weaknesses he might have had? Any hints as to what strategies he would use? While I do not intend to fight him, if we wish to seek peace with him, we must first prepare for the possibility of war."

"Sir, the only thing we gleaned from the engagement was that the commander has incredible logistical skills. He had over 100 tanks and 50 tank sized robots backing us up. All of that made in under a month. I don't think we could beat him if we tried," replied Four.

"I understand. You are dismissed."

One and Four took that as their queue to leave, though not without saluting their superior. Once he was alone, the commander leaned back and sighed. Four had confirmed what the eggheads had been telling him: fighting the commander was inviable. Flame would swamp them under weight of numbers long before they could reverse engineer a magic bullet to slay him. The fact he didn't want to fight XCOM did serve to calm him somewhat, but knowing that you are outmatched is always annoying.

Sighing again, the Commander took a moment to go and pull up a view of the training center aboard the Avenger. Within, three groups went to battle: one group resembled survivalists, albeit wearing gas masks that made them look rather deranged; the second wore pelted armor and showed some similarities to sectoids, while the third resembled knights, albeit their swords were made of psionic energy. Two of these groups had formed during the First Alien War, emerging in 2013 following the aliens attempting to add hybrid troops to supplement their armies. Meanwhile, the third had decided that the war was their signal to emerge from hiding and assist mankind as a whole. All three now sparred to see who was the best. Nearby, some engineers were examining a new shipment of weapons from Earth: XCOM could easily use wormholes to travel back and forth to Earth, which was important now more than ever: apparently, a third alien force (well, fourth if you believed the tails of aliens showing up in the fifties) had launched an attack on a new Megacity of sorts built on Earth. According to the current reports, XCOM was winning, but they still had a long way to go for victory.

With XCOM forces on Chiron already facing a war on two fronts, the Commander was glad that this Commander Flame was interested in peace. XCOM was already stretched thin as-is, so avoiding conflict was the best option for both part. How long that would last remained a mystery.....

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!

 

[Ryven Razgriz]

Really though, the XCOM part is really nice. Good job on that.

 

[Flameal15k]

"Well, that was unexpected."

It was a rather boring statement, but ROB couldn't think of a better one to describe the recent turn of events. They had been surprised that the peace summit her pet had been summoned to had not ended in bloodshed, but that was hardly a problem: they didn't mind letting him enjoy some peace before it was dashed by their actions. The trespasser was also a curveball, but they had rolled with it: the interloper had moved Flame to action, and perhaps a show of force on his part would sow the seeds of paranoia among the colonists. What had transpired at the base, though, could pose a problem to their plans.

The existence of XCOM in this universe was unexpected: no hints of it had been dropped in the game, and they hadn't noticed their presence when she had observed other variations of this universe. What it meant was currently unknown, but the mere fact XCOM existed meant that there were additional variables that they had not planned for, ones that could be problematic in the future. They would have to wait and see how things panned out before they acted. How troublesome.

Turning their attention away from these troubling developments, they returned their attention to Commander Flame. He was keeping himself busy setting up a care center for all of the people he had rescued from the Blind Eye crime syndicate, which, if they had understood the conversation that the XCOM commander had had with his subordinates correctly, was merely a front for EXALT. They were impressed that said organization had managed to survive this far into the future, though they were still scum of the Earth. Not that ROB had room to judge, considering their actions.

Pushing those thoughts away for now, ROB began to consider what they could do to interfere with Flame's plans.

"Um, my liege? May I speak with you?"

Popped out of their thoughts for a moment, ROB turned to face the one who had questioned them. It was a being not unlike Mortarax, both insectoid and reptilian in appearance. The similarities were no coincidence: this being and Mortarax were part of the same species, merely belonging to different castes. This one was a member of the worker caste, specifically one meant to be a servant, as its obedient demeanor made clear.

"Of course. What do you wish?"

"Forgive me, but we were unable to acquire the item you desired. We were out-bided. I apologize for the inconvenience...."

"Stop."

The being went quiet, stiff with fear. He was unsure how his lord would react, and if they were unhappy...

"You were out-bided, I understand. I didn't give you much to place a bid with any ways. I'm not going to punish you."

".......really?"

"Would it benefit me in any way other than personal pleasure?"

"Um...um......no......."

"Exactly. I don't stand anything to gain from punishing you, and besides, I'm the one at fault here. You're free to go. You can have tomorrow off."

"...What?"

"Do you want to work tomorrow?'

"N-n-no, it's just..."

"Then go."

Not willing to anger his master, the being quickly scuttled away.

ROB sighed. It looked like they would have to wait awhile to get that mauler fiend miniature. Oh well.

Their focus on messing with the commander had made them slip up on their other interests. True, it was fun to screw over Flame, but if it was done too often, it became boring, and it also interfered with their other interests. It was not something they liked to acknowledge, but it was true.

In spite of that, their attention once again turned to the Commander. Now, what would rile him up the most?

Additional conflict? They may have wanted him to suffer, but breaking him too early would be counterproductive to their plans.

Harm the subjects? Even they wasn't that cruel or petty.

Hack his drones? That would be fun, but he would probably destroy the rogue machines before too long.

This was not a productive session of thought, ROB realized. Adding to this was the ever-present fear that the OverROB would show up unannounced-Oh. Yes. Yes indeed. That would work. That would definitely rile up the Commander. Plus it would give them the satisfaction of seeing him completely lose his cool.

Silently, they reached out with their mind until they found who they were looking for.

"Skal'lax, could you please ask Elling and Mortarax to come to my office.. I have need of you again. I apologize for interrupting the break I just gave you."

"It is nothing, your grace. Your will shall be done."

"Thank you. Could you also ask the flight crew to prepare my ship and fetch my guards. I believe it is time that I...did some sight-seeing."

"As you command.....um, do you wish to bring Cassidy along? She really would like to see some new locals."

"...um.......well......sure. Make sure that she's constantly under watch."

"Of course. Any other requests, sir?"

"It's fine."

"Understood. Your will be done."

With that, ROB ended the telepathic conversation. Beneath the mask on their face, ROB smiled. They was going to enjoy this immensely.

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AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!