Prologue: Embrace The Void
Author's Note
This is another story idea I've had floating around that has just been clogging my mind whenever I try to work on any of my other stories. So hopefully getting a few chapters done here will allow me to continue with chapters for my other stories. Hopefully everyone will enjoy this one, it'll be an interesting take on a crossover that I don't think anyone will be able to guess the immediate direction this story will go. Anyways enjoy and feel free to let me know if I miss any spelling and/or grammatical errors as usual. 
Prologue: Embrace The Void
“Breach charge set!”
“Everyone take cover and be ready, these alien bastards have yet to make it easy on us!”
After the command was given everyone rushed behind their squads designated mechs, their armor and modifications providing ample safety. Once everyone was in position the squad leader gave the command, “BREACH!”
KA BOOM
With the thunderous blast the metallic door of reinforced alien materials was blown apart. Immediately plasma fire came from the other side as the humans and mechs fired back with their own plasma weaponry.
“We got contact!”
“I’m pinned down!”
“Armor integrity at 60% and falling.”
Thinking quickly the squad leader leapt amidst the crossfire, a violet energy akin to fog mixed with lightning flowing from his eyes and forearms as he erupted a barrier of psyionic energy in the doorway. Taking the moment to assess the situation, he counted atleast a dozen mutons still firing from behind various points of cover. With one arm holding the barrier, the man raised another to quickly mark the aliens with psyonic energy. “Squad take positions, you got ten seconds!”
As soon as his count reached ten the man dropped the barrier and his squad opened fire, quickly dropping the mutons in the room. Immediately he signaled them all forward as they began taking positions around the central point of the room. The room itself was cavernous in how big it was. Dozens of consoles, support pillars, display screens, and power conduits lie spread through out. But the most noticeable detail was the massive mainframe in the center.
“I don’t like this sir, I know the resistance we faced to reach this point was heavy and costly but I feel this place should’ve been more heavily defended.”
The squad leader turned towards the man that spoke to him, noticing it was his second in command. A Captain by the name of Daniel Peschel, he was a grenadier specializing in explosives who served with XCOM for the last eight years. He was a broad shouldered man standing at six foot one with a blonde buzz cut and brown eyes.
“I know Captain Peschel, hopefully the Commander’s distraction of personally attacking the bridge with Central and Shen did its job. Regardless everyone prepare for a heavy counterattack while Guardian gets to work!” Turning his attention to the squad he found himself leading for this mission, the man received two dozen replies varying from ‘yes sir’, ‘yes colonel’, ‘yes magus’, to ‘affirmative’. The man really hated being both an old gene soldier from the ‘old war’ and psionic warrior of the recently created Templars. Originally when soldiers were genetically enhanced in the past they’d be unable to use psionic abilities if they had the capability, but somehow the augmentations created by the Templars allowed others to finally use such a gift if they were capable. But Mathew “Shocks” Walker was the only living gene soldier from the old days.
He was pulled from his reminiscing as he watched his soldiers take defensive positions. He had a dozen XCOM operatives with three rangers, three grenadiers, four specialists and two sharpshooters with an additional two psionic operatives as well. The squad was also joined by three Skirmishers, three Reapers, and three Templars while being supported by three mecs other than Guardian. It was quite the formidable combination of forces that had allowed them to push through countless rooms and corridors to the central mainframe of the mothership they were aboard. Ever since the discovery and scuttling of the Avatar Project, the Commander had reunited Humanity against the aliens using his own hijacked Avatar to lead the charge. Within the next year the surface of Earth had been retaken, alongside countless alien vessels and research. Using the information and infrastructure obtained from the full on revolt of Humanity against their Elder overlords, practically every soldier was armed with alien alloy power armor and plasma weaponry. XCOM once again had not only dozens but hundreds of pilots operating fighter craft and other larger vessels. It has now been three years since the renewed war against the aliens, and using these obtained resources the aliens have been pushed towards the edge of the Sol solar system.
The current mission Shock and his team were taking a part of was to board a mothership class alien vessel and hack into their core mainframe, hoping to discover their remaining assets in the system as well as where they were coming from if possible. A small squad consisting of the Commander's Avatar, Central, Shen, Julian and a mix of other top operatives from both XCOM and the other resistance factions was leading a distraction assaulting the bridge. This would hopefully draw a majority of the ships forces attention with the idea we were seeking to take over the ship. While the distraction went underway, Humanities fleets were busy attempting to either disable or destroy the mothership. Every now and then a powerful shake would be felt throughout the massive vessel as more damage was suffered. Of course once objective confirmation was sent once it was achieved, everyone would pull out and the fleet would actually try to destroy the ship.
"Sir, I got contact on my battle scanner! We got aliens pushing from each entry point!" One of the specialists called out as their drone's scanner picked up the aforementioned aliens.
Refocusing on the mission on hand, Shocks took his position behind Guardian. Guardian was a special mec with an AI similar in design to Julian however it was an upgraded version with its personality core and other augmentations. He would provide a psionic barrier to protect them both while aiding the rest of the squad with his other abilities. "You know the drill men; stick to cover, grenadiers shred their armor and use your explosives on groups only, rangers take care of anything getting close like those damn chryysalids, sharpshooters got overwatch, specialists keep their robotic units at bay while keeping us patched up, mecs and the rest of ya aid where needed." Shocks quickly saluted those under his command, "Vigilo Confido!"
"Vigilo Confido!" Once everyone returned the motto preparations were finished for the coming onslaught. Within minutes the first wave of aliens rushed in. The first few waves were easy to fight, only containing ADVENT forces which consisted of mechanized units and biologically modified humans. The squad's morale was high as each wave met a swift defeat, but quickly began to be tested as the aliens themselves began to show up. First came the sectoids and their psionics alongside vipers and their toxins and quick reflexes. Thankfully the squads own psionic operatives where strategically placed preventing any of the more problematic psy attacks from being effective while their power armor respirators kept the airborne viper toxins out of their systems. But then came the heavy hitters; gate keepers, mutons, and berserkers.
Immediately the XCOM mecs went into action, charging the raging berserkers and holding them back while the heavy hitters focused on them. While they exchanged blows, the gate keepers immediately began their devastating aoe psionic attacks both harming the humans while raising psy zombies from the ADVENT corpses. With most of the squads firepower focusing on keeping the berserkers from getting to close, ground was quickly being gained by the advancing psy zombies and mutons. As they continued to advanced on the entrenched human forces; codexs, spectres, andromedons, chryysalids, and archons began joining the fight. "Psionic operatives, get some Void Rifts in there!"
Adding his own powers into the mix, Shocks alongside the XCOM psi operatives unleashed rifts amongst the alien forces causing those that didn't die outright to either panic or even become mind controlled by the human forces. Those unaffected by these rifts were targeted by psionic storms raining on them from the Templars. With the alien push halted, the rest of the squad was given enough time to take down the berserkers. As they grenadiers and mecs turned their attention back to the plethora of aliens trying to advance, a cacophony of explosions littered their numbers as plasma launchers and grenades were launched. Within minutes the last alien push was beaten back, with the casualties Shocks had received were only injuries and no deaths. Two XCOM operatives were in critical alongside a Skirmisher as well but otherwise everyone else was just a little beaten up.
"Data retrieval complete, mission objective has been achieved. We're all set Shocks." Guardian began to remove his B.I.T. from the alien mainframe when suddenly barriers appeared, blocking everyone within the room. "Shocks I'm detecting a spike of psionic energy within the mainframe."
Thinking quickly on his feet, Shocks rushed towards the barrier keeping them from reaching extraction with the other psionic humans joining him. Together they disabled the psionic barrier, creating an opening for everyone to leave. "Everyone move! Commander, this is Shocks. We've achieved our objective but it appears we triggered a failsafe of sorts."
"This is Central, we read you Shocks. We're pulling out now, ETA ten minutes before we meet you at the extraction point. What is the failsafe triggered?"
The last of Shocks squad had just exited the core mainframe room leaving just Guardian and himself. Before either could inform Central of the situation, the core mainframe suddenly began to open up revealing a rather large energy source of unknown levels. "Shocks, whatever this energy reading is its continuing to rise at an alarming rate. It appears psionic in nature and will most likely detonate within the next five minutes taking not only us with the ship but the surrounding fleet."
Adopting a grim look, Shocks turned to the rest of his squad waiting for him down the corridor. He already knew what had to be done if everyone else was gonna make it out of here... "Captain Peschel! Get everyone home safe and sound, that's an order." He gave a quick salute before shutting the blast door and frying the control panel. "Take care of the other doors Guardian, and be ready to cover me..."
On the other side of the doors the rest of the squad stood there solemnly, giving a final salute to both an honored brother but hero of humanity. "Vigilo Confido, Colonel..." Peschel quickly gathered the rest of the squad and began to book it towards extraction. They maybe had fifteen minutes tops before the failsafe would detonate, the colonel could only buy them so much time...
As Guardian sealed the last of the blast doors shut, channeling the psionic energy within the explosive device, drawing it towards him and absorbing the energy. "Commander, Central, my old friends... it has been an honor to have served and fought beside you. I-I can only h-hold thi-s psionic energy at bay for s-so long."
"Vigilo Confido Mathew, you'll forever be remembered."
"T-thank you Comman-der." Shocks was beginning to struggle, the excess psionic energy he was absorbing causing great strain and pain. Minutes felt like hours as he bought everyone else the precious time they needed to get to a safe distance. He could hear the pounding of berserkers against the blast doors, trying to open a path for the aliens to stop him. Soon enough one of the blast door finally gave in, its pieces flying into the room. Immediately dozens of aliens and ADVENT began to pour into the room. As Guardian shielded him from the incoming projectiles, both knew it was the end for them, shocks having a sense of serenity as he accepted his fate.
"It was an honor to not only call you my operator, but also my friend Matthew Walker." Guardian brought one of his arms around Matthew in a one armed hug. His other was already beginning to melt from the constant plasma fire impacting it.
"Walker, everyone has been extracted and the fleet has reached a safe distance..."
As soon as Matthew heard this he released his hold on the psionic energy. He felt nothing but the joy of knowing everyone else had made it out safe. As Guardian and him were torn apart by the psionic blast they both only felt content...
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Location: Unknown
Time: Unknown
Out of the blue a savage storm unlike any had ever seen was raging across a mountain range, keeping everything hidden from the torrents of rain and strange yet deadly purple lightning. One such strike of lightning had caused a great deal of damage within the courtyard of a strange castle nestled towards the top of the largest mountain. As the storm began to calm down not only the residents of the castle began to stir but so did those residing in the medieval like town below. Two beings stepped out of the gates of the castle and began to investigate the damage done to the courtyard. They were an odd creature, with their front half of their quadruped bodies being akin to an eagle while their back halves were akin to a lion. One was larger with most of its fur being a dark grey with the head being white with black lines through it making it seemed it had whiskers. The other was somewhat smaller than the other creature, with its body being white while the head was a deep black. "Look at all this damage caused by that storm, oh I hope it isn't this bad in the rest of Griffonstone..." The smaller one was the first to speak, looking around at the damage with deep worry for her fellow griffons below.
"Do not worry, my dear. We griffons have always been honorable and will always help our fellow brethren. If there are any major issues within the town some griffon will step up to lend a hand." The larger one leaned over and nuzzled the griffoness behind her ear, making her lean into the affection with a sigh.
"I know my King, but seeing all this just wor-." The griffoness stopped her reply as something caught her eye toward the epicenter of the lightning strike. Ignoring her husbands inquiries of what was wrong, she began to approach something giving off a metallic sheen. As she got closer her first reaction was one of curiosity before it morphed into one of fear. What lay before her was some sort of armored hound, but this is not what brought fear to her heart. It was the motionless tom it was seemingly holding protectively. "Honey get help quick!" She quickly reached for the baby griffon, gently lifting him from the unconscious hound's grasp. She let out a sigh of relief as she noticed the weak yet present rise and fall of the tom's chest. He was cold, wet, and probably at risk of a deadly cold. As she coddled the innocent child within her grasp, she took in his features. He was a pure white from head to tail, with strange markings in royal purple along his face and chest. As she held him tightly to help keep him warm until her husband returned with aid, the little tom opened their eyes slightly showing his deep white eyes. This caused the hen to smile as the little tom quickly nestled into her chest fur and left off a content trill.
"Magdalen, I've brought the royal physician!" The hen's husband returned followed by another hen that was akin to a bald eagle with their fur coloring.
"Oh thank goodness, Victoria I need you to take a look at this tom please." Magdalen gently transferred the adorable little fluff ball to the physician. He gave off an annoyed gurgle as he lost the pleasant warmth of her chest fluff.
"The poor dear is wet and freezing! But with how responsive he is as long as we get him warmed and dried up he should be perfectly fine." Victoria quickly rushed off to take care of the tom while Magdalen and her husband remained behind.
Before either could speak a strange sounding bark came from their paws. Looking down they saw the strange hound was wagging its tail as it rubbed its muzzle against the griffon tom's talons. Chuckling at its antics the two realized whatever kind of hound this was it was merely a pup, a baby just like the tom they'd just found.
"I think he likes you Gordon." Magdalen reached down with a talon and began to scratch her talons behind the pup's ears. Surprisingly even though the hound appeared metallic in nature it felt as if she was scratching a furless hounds head. While the hen was preoccupied with the strange pup and showering it with affection as she liked to do with any kind of young, Gordon was entranced by strange objects laying scattered around them.
"My Queen, do you recognize any of these items?" Gordon was confused as he looked at what was strewn about the center of the charred ground. Two things were obvious in function; one being a strange set of armor while the other was a sword and dagger of matching design. There were four other items that he couldn't make heads or tails of. Heck one of them looked like it might be some sort of strange staff and all of these items appeared with the mysterious tom and pup...
"Gordon... I think that wonderful little tom and this pup were abandoned here." The queen hadn't heard the king's question, her mind too preoccupied with why two such adorable little things were left out in a horrible storm.
"Are you sure, maybe they just got separated from their family due to the chaos and threat of the storm?"
"Then why were they left in the middle of an open courtyard? If this was not intentional then I want to know what a griffon would be doing on the castle grounds in the middle of the night with a newborn tom and pup!" Shaking her head at her husband a lecherous grin formed on her beak. "And this presents a perfect opportunity! Since you do not wish to give me a child for a few more years yet we will adopt this tom."
Gordon's eyes went wide at his wife's proclamation. "WHAT?!"
Magdalen's lecherous smile was replaced with a scowl and slitted eyes. "Yes and unless you plan on getting me pregnant next heat cycle this is final." And with that she turned around and began to hunt down Victoria and her new soon-to-be son. "And I think he already has a connection with me anyways!" The hen grew excited again as she thought of how content the little fluff ball looked as he rested against her chest.
With a sigh Gordon shook his head in defeat. "Hens, the troubles they bring me..." A bark from the pup beside him garnered his attention. Looking at said pup all Gordon saw was a tilted head with one ear flopped to the side. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll have similar problems when you're older." The only response he got was another bark and the pup hopping up onto his back in an amazing show of strength. "If this is how strong you are as a pup I think we'll get along quite well, welcome to the family." Receiving a lick on his head in reply, Gordon began following after his wife hoping he could at least name the tom.
