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 2 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:
Bartosz “Hussar” Plovdiv, from Poland
Despite him having taken to practising in a remote room of the ship that has not yet been reclaimed, Plovdiv’s rich baritone can be heard almost up to the labs if one tries to block out the ship’s noise. He is currently giving a rendition of Dalla sua pace so emotional it could move a rock to tears.
“The acoustics in here are by no means perfect, but a man who wishes to do good in the world must cope with such drawbacks. It is an honour and a pleasure to serve with such distinguished and skilled people.”
With a smile larger than his face, he sits down on a ledge.
“Yes, I am an opera singer, yes, I used to perform at the Teatr Wielki, but that’s hardly relevant. Singing is my passion, but this is my calling. It should be the duty of any man to protect his home country and, obviously, his home world, be it against tyrants, terrorists or alien invaders. Nothing stands above that. I grew up in Warsaw, and thanks to my parents I lacked nothing in my childhood days. My father was disappointed when I left the military. ‘Son, you are breaking a line of soldiers uninterrupted since Prussian days’, but I found there were enough people protecting our borders, and with the ADVENT Coalition forming I was unsure if they had the fatherland’s best interest at heart. I used to think that every young man should serve for at least five years, which I did, but these days I’m not so sure about that anymore. I’d much rather they fight with the rebels, who could be considered the ‘real’ protectors of the land. Honest, honourable people, banding together in a time of need against a common enemy. That’s what we’re doing here, aboard this magnificent vessel. Sailors on course to slay the greatest and most terrifying kraken the world has ever seen, a voyage through an ocean of glory, every death accompanied by a promise of vengeance, hardening our determination. I saw a soldier run straight at a sectopod under heavy fire, sliding underneath its legs and detonating a charge on its back. Another fought three stun lancers with a sword and won. Their tales will be remembered to the end of time. In a thousand years, this will be the Odyssey people read of in history books, and all of us, from the implacable commander to the engineer that will transform this very room into a lab one day, will be remembered as heroes. Our trials and our slaying of the beast will eclipse every saga and every poem. I’m only sad that I’ll never sing about it myself. I fight for XCOM, because I could not call myself a man if I didn’t.”
Who is Betty? 