Seeing as the Countdown Calendar for XCOM 2 was such a massive success, I decided to use some discarded character concepts and a couple new ones for what is essentially season 2 of the project. For those of you who don’t know: Every Tuesday until the day WotC is released, I will reveal a new soldier on the Avenger, so you can get a small dose of XCOM to bridge the gap.
Quick reminder: I am in no way affiliated with Firaxis, and all this content is fanfiction/headcanon/whatever term you prefer.
An encounter with:
Levi “Invictus” Ben-David, from Israel:
Slouched on a couch in a way that puts the least possible strain on his body, Ben-David is poring over one of his many books on military strategy. His concentration is unfaltering, but even as he speed-reads and flips page after page, he is always aware of his surroundings.
“’In the end, the people who got the holy land were not even from this world.’ That’s what my father used to say after the Mossad was disbanded. Israel was one of the ‘military keystones’ that the invaders used to build ADVENT, or at least the civilian enforcement parts of it. We used to be one of the most advanced militaries in the world, with special forces that drove terror into the bones of our foes. Everyone had to serve, and service was strict. If that’s who ADVENT wanted as its traffic police, I dare not imagine what they use as actual military.”
He takes a deep swig from a bottle containing a regenerative multi-vitamin protein shake. Unlike Lombardi, he does not require rejuvenation supplements, but instead uses them preventively. Ironic, considering his most likely cause of death is not old age.
“Luckily, or unluckily, I don’t have to imagine what they use as actual military. I’ve been fighting them for years, and they’re every bit as intimidating as you would think, maybe even a bit worse. Their technology, their infrastructure, their tactics, their equipment, it’s all beyond what is reasonable. And what they do to their own people…”
With a look of disgust on his face, he exhales and shakes his head.
“They clearly do not value human life, and human life is exactly what I’m here to protect. Look, I don’t have a problem with all the fascinating characters aboard this ship. They’re all skilled warriors, know how to handle a weapon, and also have the resolve to do serious damage to ADVENT. The sheer variety of their skill sets gives the most convenient advantages in the strangest situations But if you want to defeat a military enemy, you will need soldiers, not warriors. Yes, angry sociopaths with axes have their uses, but what you want is disciplined people who understand the bigger picture and can handle difficult tactical situations. The Gallic tribes lost to the Romans because they were consistently outmanoeuvred by a foe with superior training and equipment. If we don’t want to end up like them we’ll have to become more like the aliens. We have to continue adapting their technology for our own use, learn as much about and of them as possible, otherwise we will be defeated. Of course we need to make sure we don’t lose our own humanity in the process…”
He looks to the ground, recalling a memory so horrendous it would be painful to vocalise it.
“I fight for XCOM, because I believe that traditional military skills are required in any successful rebellion.”
Who is Betty? 