Lance-Corporal Susan 'Seraph' Shelby was not having a good day. This was only reinforced by the scream of pain from somewhere to her right, an indicator of yet another of her squadmates dying a stupid alien-inflicted death.
It wasn't meant to be like this. Earth was meant to be peaceful. She'd made sure of that years ago - or, she'd thought she had. What had gone so wrong as to attract some malevolent force from the stars that seemed intent on killing them all?
Technical Sergeant Lewis 'Collateral' Wilson was not having a good day. This was only reinforced by the plasma bolt that melted his right shoulderplate into his shoulder. Biting back a curse that could have stunned a sailor, he grimly kept firing his multilaser into the doorway, hoping to whatever god would listen that it would deter his opponent.
It wasn't looking good. Standard Mutons, he could handle - you shot them, and they died. Berserkers were easy enough if you had the space - just play tennis. This new kind didn't die when you shot them, and they were smart. Not to mention they had plasma cannons that made his multilaser look like a toy.
"This is Collateral, I need some support in here!"
"Doomsday to Collateral, making an entrance."
Just as Collateral's multilaser ran out, the next room over was opened to the air by a rocket to the damaged side. The smart-Muton promptly fell over dead, courtesy of DJ filling its back with lasers. Collateral reloaded his multilaser while Doomsday dropped his spent rocket launcher and trained his multilaser on the Floater being a nuisance outside.
Assaulting a crashed UFO was always a fun experience - combining all the thrill of urban combat with the unsettling knowledge that the turf wasn't wholly human - but this UFO was special. It had been cloaked (and unknown to everyone) until last week when Research had jury-rigged something out of alien base salvage, and when pursued it had slagged an entire Interceptor squadron and nearly wrecked another. Combined with the unusually heavy alien presence at the crash site, Collateral was dreading what was at the centre of the oddly-small craft.
When the chaos seemed to have died down, he took a moment to assess the damage. Inwardly, he was hoping that each death on his squad had been matched by at least two kills - the Hyperwave Relay told him that nothing less would suffice if they wanted to clear the crash site. "This is Collateral, I'm still alive. West sector is clear. Squad, sound off!"
"Doomsday, still here. Mustang is KIA. South sector clear. Over."
"Athena, watching. North and East sectors clear. Over."
"Garrote, safe, but my SHIV's destroyed. Negative on that Floater you asked about, it was a trick of the light. Over."
"Deacon, status glad. I'm with Athena. Over."
"DJ, alive. I'm with Collateral. Over."
"Seraph, shaken but alive. Gunner is KIA, Saturn is down but stable, SHIV is destroyed. Request safer posting. Over."
Everyone had a chuckle at that. Seraph was the closest the squad had to a rookie, and while she could hold her own in a firefight she was more comfortable with the 'medic' part of 'combat medic'.
Collateral spoke up again. "All right, everyone is accounted for. No X-rays?" (A chorus of variations on "no".) "Good, everyone regroup with Doomsday in West sector, there's a good entrance to the UFO there."
Doomsday set the record straight with "You did order me to make one, sir." More good-natured laughter.
"Collateral to Garrote, you've got some psionic sense, any idea what's in there?"
"Not sure, sir. Seems shielded."
"Well, that's not a good sign."
As the squad made its way towards the cover near The Door (dread increasing), Seraph ran over to Collateral and wordlessly discharged her medikit into his shoulder.
"Thanks, Seraph. You okay?"
"I got through Demon Paramour, sir. I can get through this."
"Good. Get in position." To the remnants of the squad now: "Everyone, we breach in thirty. I'll take point. Doomsday, use my rocket first. Deacon, Seraph, still got smoke?"
"Negative." "Negative."
"Damn." Collateral considered his options as he handed Doomsday his rocket launcher. "DJ, you're with me, go left, I'll go right. Rest of you suppress into the door as soon as we're clear. Athena, Garrote, sidearms, this will be close quarters. Garrote says the room's shielded, so something really psionic is in there. Plan is see X-rays, kill X-rays. I don't care what Research says, no zapping. You all remember Nitro."
They did.
"Right, stack up." The seven veteran soldiers took positions as parts in a well-oiled machine. Doomsday aimed the rocket launcher. "Three. Two. One."
The strike team burst in, applied explosives liberally, suppressed the survivors - damn, two more smart Mutons - and assessed the situation.
What the hell was that thing?
Warrant Officer Annette Durand was not having a good day. This was only reinforced when she saw 'that thing' through the armor-cam.
Durand had been a captive of the Ethereal Ones, and they had used her Gift to attempt to destroy XCOM from the inside. XCOM had survived and rescued her. Now she stayed in XCOM HQ, nurturing the Gift in them - a much harder job than being a secretary, but so much more rewarding - and the pay was good, too.
She would have given it all up to avoid seeing an Ethereal on the screen in Mission Control.
"It's one of them," she muttered. Then, realising nobody had heard, "Be careful! It's extremely psionic -"
Collateral had figured that out already, thanks. DJ was dead, his dash around a Muton thwarted by the Ethereal inducing panic and freezing him in the middle of the floor. He'd been a fish in a barrel.
The squad fought tooth and nail. Doomsday valiantly suppressed whatever he could, but was decapitated by a plasma bolt. Deacon grabbed a grenade off the fallen heavy's belt and hurled it at a Muton; it went off, and he followed up by double-tapping the now-exposed target before it could react. Garrote disappeared in green fire and was very swiftly avenged by Athena, who pulled off an incredible shot to fry the other Muton despite its cover.
Collateral and Seraph had been firing on the new alien during these packed seconds, to no apparent effect - it seemed bored of them. As Collateral went to reload, he was treated to why. A psionic shockwave washed over the squad, and everything suddenly seemed heavier. Soldiers fell, dropping their weapons, as the Ethereal floated effortlessly towards them.
Athena summoned the strength to draw her sidearm as the monster floated closer. At point-blank, the laser pistol actually did some damage to the thing. Or maybe it was just too busy recovering from the exertion to shield itself - Collateral would take any theory he could get.
He was about to join in when he saw it glare at Athena, and despite not being targeted he felt the psionic ripple. The sniper had ample time to scream, but was physically unable to do so, as an alien superpsionic turned her brain to stir-fry. Mindfray was a horrific way to die.
That being said, clearly the thing could be hurt. Collateral did what had landed him in this position - he planned. Himself, Seraph, and Deacon were still alive. "Squad," he whispered, "draw sidearms. On my mark, headshot."
Deacon and Seraph, strength returning, drew their sidearms as Collateral procured DJ's as quietly as he could.
"Mark." The three laser pistol beams shredded the thing's head.
Or that's what should have happened. As he started to say "mark", another psi-pulse filled him with an incredible urge to run and hide behind the nearest console. He couldn't stop himself.
Deacon, to his credit, fired. The Ethereal didn't seem bothered in the slightest, merely reaching into his mind and quenching it. He'd be down for a while.
Seraph, thrown off-balance by Collateral's sudden movement, didn't manage to fire before the Ethereal turned its attention to her. She dropped her pistol and screamed in pain as it invaded her head.
Collateral, recovering, aimed over the top of the console with his appropriated laser pistol -
A Floater was aiming straight for his head!
He knew he shouldn't be speaking ill of the dead, but it looked like Garrote had missed the thing after all, and that just sucked right now. He ducked back behind the console as the Floater brutally suppressed him.
He could just see Seraph getting up again. It didn't look like the way she usually moved.
"Collateral to Central, we're in deep shit. Deacon's out, Seraph's not driving, others are KIA."
The response from Mission Control did not fill him with confidence. "Collateral, UFO incoming, likely a troop carrier. Prepare for alien reinforcements."
Well, this was going to suck.
Back in the crashed UFO's control room, Seraph looked like two consciousnesses were fighting over control of her body. She was resisting mind control? That was a new trick. A jerky motion meant to point her sidearm at Collateral ended up throwing it at the Ethereal. Critical hit to its pride, but ultimately not very useful. She continued advancing - obviously it intended to kill him with her bare hands - but increasingly slowly, eventually falling to her knees looking like she had the migraine from hell.
Collateral readied his pistol, fully prepared to shoot her - this was nothing new to him. Seraph didn't move, merely letting out a groan, probably of pain.
Everything in the room felt the Ethereal upping the power.
Seraph screamed. Then something else in the fabric of the world shifted, and everything went white.
```
OPERATION BLEEDING THRONE
UFO-049 Crash Site, UFO-050 Landing Site
Dubuque, Iowa, United States
POSTMORTEM SUMMARY
COMBAT PERSONNEL
TSGT Lewis 'Collateral' Wilson WOUNDED 10d PROMOTION RECOMMENDED
SGT Thomas 'Doomsday' King KIA
SGT Susan 'Athena' McDonald KIA PROMOTION RECOMMENDED
CPL James 'Mustang' Gallagher KIA
CPL Natalia 'Garrote' Kozlova KIA
CPL Caleb 'Gunner' Wheeler KIA
CPL Tareq 'Deacon' Suleiman GRAVELY WOUNDED 16d PROMOTION RECOMMENDED
LCPL Tadashi 'Saturn' Takahashi GRAVELY WOUNDED 16d PROMOTION RECOMMENDED
LCPL Janus 'DJ' Meyer KIA PROMOTION RECOMMENDED
LCPL Susan 'Seraph' Shelby UNKNOWN
GOLIATH-5 DESTROYED
GOLIATH-13 DESTROYED
RECOVERY INVENTORY
Alien Alloy 922
Elerium 491
Weapon Fragment 38
Meld 30
Seeker Wreck 2
Floater Corpse 15
Chryssalid Corpse 18
Muton Corpse 14
Mechtoid Wreck 2
Muton Berserker Corpse 3
Muton Berserker Captive
Heavy Floater Corpse 9
Heavy Floater Captive
Sectoid Commander Corpse 3
Muton Elite Corpse 5
Muton Elite Captive
Ethereal Captive
Archon Captive
Plasma Pistol 3
Plasma Rifle 33
Heavy Plasma 2
Alien Grenade 15
UFO Flight Computer 3
UFO Power Source 4
Ethereal Device
EVALUATION
Aliens Killed Excellent
Soldiers Lost Poor
Meld Recovered Good
OVERALL Good
```
"With respect, Colonel, I oversaw the unloading of the Skyranger and I still don't believe it." Doctor Raymond Shen, chief engineer, had ample reason to be disbelieving. "XCOM operations do not go like this."
"I agree completely." Colonel Maria "Prophet" Vorobyova, the closest thing XCOM had to a chief of staff, was just as disbelieving. "You just don't take 70% casualties and then curb-stomp the opposition. Even we aren't that good." More quietly, "And it really doesn't help that we didn't get any of it on armor-cam. Where were they pointed, anyway?"
Central Officer John Bradford ought to know, having been observing them intently during the operation. "Saturn was prone outside, Deacon was prone inside, Collateral was hiding behind a console - can't blame him, psi-panic, suppression, and whatever that was is a bad combination - and Seraph just wasn't giving us a signal."
"I have my best engineers ready to tackle that problem, but it would help greatly if said armor-cam were recovered."
"That's the thing," Prophet pitched in. "Seraph's still missing - we just can't account for her during whatever happened. I wish we had Commander-sense; shame she's on mandatory rest."
"Doctor Vahlen is currently interrogating the - what did Durand call it? - Ethereal, and the weird one is -"
"We're coining it an Archon, Central."
"Far be it from me to question our naming practices. Anyway, the Ethereal is being interrogated, and the Archon is next on deck. I've advised the doctor to use images of Seraph as part of the interrogation package; I'm hoping that one of those captives has some answers." Bradford was no slouch at running meetings in the Commander's stead. "Next order of business, causes of death of the alien reinforcements. I've heard the morgue's having a field day."
Prophet, closest point of contact, spoke up. "You all saw the weaponry we captured - they all died in a fashion that fooled the weapons."
"That, or it damaged the weapons as a side effect, removing their ability to self-destruct," Shen speculated. "I have teams going over them as we speak."
Prophet continued. "Anyway, the initial report is that the X-rays all got their brains fried by something that looks like psionics."
"I'm hardly a domain expert, but surely anything that looks like psionics is psionics?"
"Afraid not. Psionics victims have very specific sections of brain tissue damaged in very specific ways - it's as distinctive as a laser burn." Prophet's field-medic background shone through. "Vahlen can tell you more later. Anyway, these aliens show a very different kind of damage to those same specific sections of their brains. Comparing this to psionics is like comparing a laser rifle to a conventional rifle; sure, the victim might have died by obliteration of the same vital organ, but the means of doing so is hopelessly different."
Whatever it was, everyone around the table hoped it could be weaponised - aside from leaving piles of intact weaponry, it had neutralised aliens that nobody had even known were there, without neutralising XCOM, and it had even left live captures. A weapon of mass site-clearing that left humans intact and science available was roughly equivalent to the Holy Grail in terms of desirability.
By the time the meeting wrapped up an hour later, Vahlen had called in to report that the Ethereal had been interrogated to expiry. Despite knowing an awful lot about alien tech and operations, it didn't know much about Seraph - and much of what it did had to be written off as nonsense.
Archon interrogation: preliminary observations
Dr Joel Mills
This subject is possibly the strangest, and yet most familiar, humanoid encountered by XCOM. Non-invasive examination has revealed a body structure and biochemistry that largely matches an athletic human female, even to the DNA level. This was previously presumed to be beyond the invaders' capability, given the mere skin-deep similarity of the previously encountered Thin Man. It is possible that this alien type is an enhanced infiltrator, and some of the aliens' abduction strikes were to harvest data to construct it. This hypothesis is supported by the subject's physical structure. Its chosen form, aside from being nearly indistinguishable from a human, is one that is likely to be sexually appealing to many humans, allowing it to take advantage of the halo effect to avoid scrutiny.
The subject also possesses several external organs that are atypical of humans, but likely of use to an infiltrator. Firstly, it can reposition and morph its ears into a more equine configuration. Staff of equestrian background have noted that horses generally have more sensitive hearing, and can swivel their ears to pick up sound from atypical directions, or two directions simultaneously; these capabilities would all be useful to an infiltrator designed to gather data. The subject can also deploy feathered wings; even considering the enhanced back musculature that accompanies them, these do not appear to be sufficient to allow it to fly under its own power, but this alien invasion has already discarded so many tenets of the sciences (let alone aerodynamics specifically) that we are prepared to give it the benefit of the doubt. If functional, these wings would allow it to reach theoretically impassable locations in much the same way as the Thin Man's implausible leaping ability.
It should be noted that there is little to no hope of attempting to weed out these infiltrators by detecting these enhancements - they are all under the infiltrator's control, and can be 'stowed' in such a conclusive fashion that they become undetectable to any kind of non-invasive procedure. (Trust us; we checked. Thoroughly.) They only reason they were ever detected was that whatever stunned the subject temporarily disrupted its control over the enhancements while they were deployed, presumably in anticipation of combat with XCOM; they stowed themselves thirty minutes into the examination. Extreme caution is advised if these specimens are ever encountered in the field; if they were able to so thoroughly disguise the enhancements we know about, it is worryingly likely that they have more.
A final note: The DNA checks on the subject reveal a high degree of similarity to a soldier in our employ, Lance-Corporal Susan Shelby. I recommend that resources be allocated to determining the abductee status of her relatives, if not already known.
growing up in a wealthy neighbourhood of Canterlot
seeing Princess Celestia raise the sun for the first time
"These results are similar to the garbage data from the Ethereal."
staying up for three days straight studying solar magic
"Did the Ethereal transfer it the garbage?"
taking the entrance exam for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns
"Why would the Ethereal have this?"
becoming the Princess' personal student
"Why would this have this?"
learning about Nightmare Moon
"Is this what the Ethereals are fighting for? Is this specimen less shielded?"
arguing with the Princess over solutions
"Why would an infiltrator be less shielded? They know we can capture them."
fleeing through the mirror to find more resources
"And anyway, this is just weird. It's like we have a completely different alien -"
"STOP! Shut it down, shut it down SHUT IT DOWN! MEDICAL!"
