Month: October 2015

Since nobody can be expected to just sit and wait for XCOM 2 to come out, we’ll be having ourselves a little countdown for the 19 sundays left between us and salvation. Each week I’ll be showcasing another soldier living aboard the Avenger, who they are, and why exactly it is they fight for XCOM. When the game comes out, I’ll be creating all of these and release them as a content mod for your character pool. But for now, this’ll have to do.

Keep in my that this is all completely fanfiction-based and I am in no way affiliated with Firaxis. I just do this as a fun writing exercise, because I can.

An encounter with:

Mok-Seok “Geobukseon” Woo, from Korea (name latinized):

 

 

Woo interrupts his unloading of a small freight truck to tell his story and plunks an enormous metal box down to sit on it.

“I remember the night the Skyranger landed on a frozen field outside of the small village we were meeting Officer Bradford in. It was overcast, and light snow was falling silently, blanketing the Hamgyong Mountains in white. The aliens knew there were rebels in this range, but they could never find us. People said they were not interested, because we chose to build our own society instead of attacking them, even though I can tell you, as a soldier: we did kill many of them. My sister and I had known for a long time that we would be sent somewhere we could make a difference, instead of living in a small, isolated colony, but I know they only ever truly wanted Jung, and I cannot blame them. People say I am the strongest man in Korea, but I have seen men stronger than me. I have never seen anyone smarter than my sister, and she is chosen to truly free my people, and all the others.”

He makes a tiny bow in no particular direction, right hand on his heart. A sort of prayer.

“We were inseparable since birth. Twins, but very different. Our father was Woo Yi-Jin, daejang under the Supreme Leader of North Korea. He sent us away when we were still toddlers, and died valiantly defending Pyongyang and Kim Jong-Un. Old people always say it was the day we found out the Supreme Leader was no god at all, but a man in god’s clothing. Many South Koreans also found refuge in the mountains, so we were only Koreans after a while. North and south were things of the past.”

Stopping for a moment, it seems as though he is contemplating some new insight he just found.

“While my sister learned things about science and the world, I learned how to protect her. People always said she would one day change the world, and I know changing the world can be dangerous. It was always clear we would be together when she found her fate and calling, and now she is here, working with other smart people, pooling their intellects, risking everything against the aliens. I fight for XCOM, because if I die, I know my sister will be protected.”

Since nobody can be expected to just sit and wait for XCOM 2 to come out, we’ll be having ourselves a little countdown for the 19 sundays left between us and salvation. Each week I’ll be showcasing another soldier living aboard the Avenger, who they are, and why exactly it is they fight for XCOM. When the game comes out, I’ll be creating all of these and release them as a content mod for your character pool. But for now, this’ll have to do.

Keep in my that this is all completely fanfiction-based and I am in no way affiliated with Firaxis. I just do this as a fun writing exercise, because I can.

An encounter with:

Gianluca “Mad Dog” Lombardi, from Italy:

 

 

Mad Dog can be found in the gymnasium, furiously beating and alien-shaped boxing bag with almost impossible speed.

“I’m in here most of the daytime. The new nutrition treatments and supplements allow me to put great workout strain on my body without breaking it, and I need it. I’ve been with XCOM almost since day one, and I intend to fight as long as possible.”

He takes off his gloves and sits down on a bench, squeezing a big gulp of bright blue muscle regeneration supplement into his mouth.

“I was requisitioned for XCOM from the Esercito Italiano as a young flag officer. It was only days after I actually started believing the aliens were real, even if the pezzi grossi told us that wasn’t the case. I remember thinking ‘if the world is ever going to unite, it has to be now’, and God heard my prayers. Less than a week later, I was on my first mission in central Africa. XCOM was a good place back then. We were the best of the best, had the best of the best, and fought the best of the best. We all knew we were doing something big, something important, and the Lord himself was watching us. I felt safe under his protection, and I extended that protection to the people under my charge when the Commander made me a field officer. Many a mission was lead by me, and many a rookie learned under my care. They called me Mad Dog, because, when I saw a kill, I went for it, often risking my own safety. And God always made sure I came out alive, until the day he abandoned me.”

Visibly still traumatized by the memories he is conjuring up, Lombardi takes a small golden crucifix on a chain out of his sporting bag.

“It was in Seattle. Shen told us they had some kind of transponder beacon on top of a skyscraper. The National Guard had the building surrounded, and we went in with the Skyranger for some killing. Didn’t take long until the entire upper levels were on fire, but we walked through it. Then, I see this big, red berserker, and it’s just below me. It hasn’t seen me yet, so I jump down on it, ramming my knife directly into its brain. Died instantly. But something else also happened: without warning, the ceiling over my entire team collapsed. Everyone died, and I was severely injured. Broken leg, burns, the whole package, but I managed to break the beacon’s power supply. Commander told me to get out of there, and when I came back, alone, the doctors said that they barely managed to save my life. Only days later, HQ was raided by the aliens. And yes, I don’t say attacked, because that would suggest we ever stood a chance. Even though I was in medical, the rookies came to me for leadership. They brought me a shotgun and asked my what to do. It was a bloodbath, a massacre. We had to drag Bradford out of Mission Control, and I think he still hates me for it. With Shen, Vahlen and the Commander all dead, HQ taken over by aliens and everybody losing the war, we knew it was over. We split ways soon, and I was flying solo for years, working with small guerilla groups sometimes. I never stopped being the Mad Dog, but now it feels as though God has blessed me and then forgotten. Nothing can kill me. I fight for XCOM, because I will not die an old man in my bed while my brothers and sisters in arms perished on the battlefield.”

Since nobody can be expected to just sit and wait for XCOM 2 to come out, we’ll be having ourselves a little countdown for the 19 sundays left between us and salvation. Each week I’ll be showcasing another soldier living aboard the Avenger, who they are, and why exactly it is they fight for XCOM. When the game comes out, I’ll be creating all of these and release them as a content mod for your character pool. But for now, this’ll have to do.

Keep in my that this is all completely fanfiction-based and I am in no way affiliated with Firaxis. I just do this as a fun writing exercise, because I can.

An encounter with:

Maarten “Geus” Fortuyn, from the Netherlands:

His legs propped up on a table, Fortuyn is slouching in front of a computer display, seemingly at ease, playing Battleship.

“People always come to me for the story of how I lost the Zeemonster, and I’m more happy to tell it than I care to admit.”

He interrupts his game and sits upright in order to properly accompany his tale with flamboyant gestures.

“When the aliens made their intentions of world domination clear, I became captain of a nuclear submarine. It was state-of-the-art, cream of the crop, and our then-captain wanted to just go back home and give it to our new alien overlords. So I had myself a little mutiny, and I soon became the unseen dread of Indian Ocean. Yeah, sure, the ADVENT likes its flying saucers, but it also loves its but cargo boats, and those we hit like crazy. Guess I’ve always been resistance, it’s the only people I dealt with. When I had loot, I sold it to resistance groups, when I was short on crew, they enlisted from resistance groups, and when I needed a place to hide, resistance groups could always muster some hidden island in Indonesia or a frozen cove in Antarctica. I remember one time they were looking for us off the coast of Madagascar, and we were hidden in a huge underwater cave. One move out and we would have been sectoid food, and this went on for almost half a year. We were running low on supplies, and so the resistance regularly had fishing boats drop sealed boxes of food when no one was looking, and we could send divers to recover them.”

Shaking his head, he waves off the story.

“I’m digressing. The day I lost the Zeemonster, my that was scary. We had just hit another big ADVENT freighter, badly defended as far as those go, and that should have been reason enough to avoid it like the plague. We got weapons, clothes, spare parts and whatnot, too much to catalogue everything, even some vehicles were in there! So we stashed most of it in the seabed, but there were some sealed boxes I wanted to have an expert or two take a look over. Turns out they were full of chryssallids. Yep, real life, horrible crawler chryssalids of doom. Try fighting those in narrow corridors, kilometres underwater. The clamouring of their feet reverberated through the entire submarine. You could never know when they would pop around the corner, and later you could never know if the guy coming at you from down the corridor was injured or a zombie. Of course, I had Willem at my side to protect me, but that’s not all that saved me.”

He pats his bright orange shotgun on the back like it’s a pet.

“I don’t know exactly how I survived, but I do remember there was an explosion, and I believe I was the one who ordered it. No idea how, and it might seem impossible, but the next thing I remember is being adrift on an air mattress, lying there for days, my skin burning, my broken bones hurting. Finally, a whaler of all things found me a took me in. They were convinced the aliens would introduce huge sea creatures into the oceans, and wanted to be prepared. They brought me to a small guerilla group on Sri Lanka, and that’s how I ended up here. I fight for XCOM, because I owe it to the men and women who died aboard my pirate submarine.”

Since nobody can be expected to just sit and wait for XCOM 2 to come out, we’ll be having ourselves a little countdown for the 19 sundays left between us and salvation. Each week I’ll be showcasing another soldier living aboard the Avenger, who they are, and why exactly it is they fight for XCOM. When the game comes out, I’ll be creating all of these and release them as a content mod for your character pool. But for now, this’ll have to do.

Keep in my that this is all completely fanfiction-based and I am in no way affiliated with Firaxis. I just do this as a fun writing exercise, because I can.

An encounter with:

Esmeralda “Bloodbag” Cortez, from the United States of America:

 

 

Late in the evening, Cortez is the only person in the mess hall, having just come back from the medical bay. She is eating mashed potatoes and peas.
“My mum used to scrub toilets for a living, and my dad mowed lawns. Now I’m suddenly supposed to be a goddamn hero. They used to say we were Puertorican, but I’ve never even been to Puerto Rico, I was born in Louisiana, and I grew up in Florida. For what it’s worth: I’m American, that’s what I’ve always been.”

She takes a small sip of water.

“When I went to college, subversion and defiance of authority were coming back into fashion. Guess when we finally got all the protection of someone who tells us what to do, we didn’t want it after all, and the ADVENT was not happy with that. The only reason I was relatively safe is because Doctor Shelley needed me to study my mutations.”

Her eyes seem to faze out a little when she touches the crook of her arm, which is riddled with puncture scars.

“I’s a combination of factors, so to give you the short version, I produce more blood faster than other people. Like, a lot faster. My being O negative is just an added bonus, as is the fact that I have a natural talent for shooting things. And I found out about that when Doctor Shelley hid me with her resistance friends to protect me from ADVENT. She was the first person who died for me, which is ironic, because the Warriors of Saint Theodore called me ‘Lifegiver’. The second was my mum, who was taken in for ‘questioning’ and was essentially tortured to death to find out my whereabouts. When I wanted to turn myself in. because maybe she wasn’t dead after all and they would release her, it was my dad of all people who found me and told me to go back into hiding, to fight the good fight.”

As she is staring into nothingness, silence fills the room for a moment.

“I guess that’s why still go through the motions. It’s why I pull the trigger and help the medics save soldier lives. I fight for XCOM, because my dad told me to.”