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.”
Who is Betty? 
Thisis really good.
I meant “This is”
Thanks!