XCOM 2 - The End

The armory was filled with the sounds of preparation. Weapons being loaded and primed. Armor being fitted and adjusted. Each soldier making sure their equipment was in top shape.

Clark was in one corner, doing final tune-ups on Lil Suzy, making sure the barrels of his cannon spun straight and smooth. Dekker, the resident psionic, had finished priming her rifle and had moved on to her psi amp, removing any chipped or cracked elerium crystals and replacing them with fresh ones from the latest supply raid. Okada gave a small smile as he loaded his rifle with his signature Bluescreen rounds, something he personally had a hand in developing. Ray was just finishing a small system update in his gremlin, Fizzle, to make sure it would administer the medical spray correctly. Shapira was doing similar, although in his case his gremlin was being fitted with new plugs to better his chance at hacking enemy mechs. In the middle of them all, Jane Kelly, the Commanders' most senior soldier, finished suiting up in her Icarus Armor. 

It was D-Day for the entire Earth. John Fizzlebeef, the rogue Thin Man, and his team had done their part by hacking the ADVENT communications tower. His team had come away with some bruises, and John himself almost lost an arm to an Archons' spear, but they got the message out. Now the Earth knew, or rather was reminded, that the aliens were the true enemy, and ADVENT had its' hands full fending off all Humanity. Humanity was doing its' part. Now XCOM had to finish theirs.

No words were spoken in that armory. No words needed saying right now. True, Clark or Dekker would make a joke later, but not now. The mood was too dark. They all had an idea what they were getting into. They knew there was a good chance some of them, perhaps even most of them, weren't going to make it out alive. Even then, in the face of certain death, they had a duty. A duty to the Commander, to Humanity, to themselves. And they were going to do it.

"Soldiers," Bradford said as he leaned through the door, "it's time." Without any words, the whole team grabbed their gear and moved out. 

---

The Sectoids screamed in terror as the Gatekeeper dropped a Void Rift on them, immediately reducing one to shredded meat while the other two narrowly escaped the brunt of it. The Gatekeeper, meanwhile, was under the impression it was attacking XCOM soldiers. The Commanders' Avatars' mind control had it completely deceived, and ever since they first found it escorted by a pair of (now mutilated) Archons, the Gatekeeper had been a decent forward scout/battering ram, getting the attention of everything ahead of the squad as they progressed at a slower pace behind it. The squad was used to fighting alongside Gatekeepers (Dekker was a bit of an expert on mind controlling them), but the Avatar was something else. Silent and powerful, the human/alien was a sight to behold. Unfortunately, it also had the aiming capabilities of a rookie with a magnetic rifle.

"Shoot the pink thing for God's sake!" Shapira hollered as the Avatar missed its' third shot against a badly wounded Sectoid. He knew the Commander was controlling it, and was probably having a hard time controlling it, but even he couldn't help but groan at the sheer inaccuracy of it. As the Avatar raised its' rifle to try again, a plasma bolt shot past their head and nailed the Sectoid between the eyes. Shapira didn't even have to turn as Dekker rushed forward, her rifle still warm from the previous shot. The Gatekeeper surged forward as well, giving a groan as two Sectopods and two Heavy MEC's appeared in its' sight. 

"Okada!" Clark hollered. "Can ya get a shot on the small guys?"

"Shouldn't I aim for the big guys?" Okada asked moments before one of the Sectopods fell over, suffering from a temporary shutdown via Hayware Protocol, while the other got shot twice by the resident Gatekeeper. After seeing this, the sniper relented and fired a shot at one of the Heavy MECs, killing it instantly. With everyone focused on the robots, only Kelly noticed something coming from the side.

"Archons!" she screamed as she raised her shotgun and fired, almost killing one right there. The Archon she hit first roared in anger, then roared in terror at seeing her Icarus Armor, the dead remains of its' king. Horrified, it flew away and hid behind a railing. The other Archon, undeterred, rose up and ignited its' Blazing Pinions attack. Everyone ducked for cover as the pinions came crashing down, one of them providing the blow that broke the Gatekeeper. Things just got a bit more dicey for the squad.

---

The final room. The team made it to the final room. They were bruised and battered, but Ray's "feel good spray" patched everyone best it could. Now they only had one thing left to do. Throughout this entire siege of their base, the Elders had been spewing their lies and deceptions. It was time to shut them up.

The Commanders' Avatar could tell there were three of them. Three Elder Avatars. All the pain and misery and death the Elders had caused to create their Avatars, and they had only made four (including the one Okada shot full of lead a month ago). They all had the feeling this would be too easy.

The first one was indeed easy. The foolish Avatar had taken a shot from Shapira and teleported not too far from Kelly and Dekker. With a dash and a fire, the Avatars' head was blown clean off. There was an unearthly wail as the connection between the Avatar and the Elder controlling it was severed, and the Avatar itself exploded in a psionic burst. Kelly was glad it didn't explode like a graboid, but the relief was short lived. Just as it exploded, she spotted an entire team of Faceless emerging from a gateway.

"We got squishy guys!" she hollered back to the main group, who turned their attention to the giant shapeshifters. The Commanders' Avatar dropped a Rift on them, killing one and badly wounding the other two. Ray and Alan made quick work of the survivors as Okada used a grappling hook to shoot to an elevated position, where he saw a bigger threat.

"Kelly, Dekker!" he screamed. "Got eyes on the second Avatar, and an assload of Mutons headed your way!" After saying this, he quickly fired at one of the charging Berserkers. Through sheer luck, he got it in the mouth, bypassing the rock-hard hide and splattering its' brains. The second Berserker, however, was rushing right at the two women. Dekker saw the opportunity and threw a psionic burst at it, striving to drive its' bloodlusting mind insane. It shook off the insanity, but in doing so stumbled and face-planted the ground right next to her. Meanwhile, The others were focused on the second Avatar. Despite its' tenacity and psionic powers, that Avatar fell quickly under the concentrated fire of five men with plasma weapons. Just one more.

The last one was a challenge. Surrounded by Andromedons, Vipers and two more Mutons, it was hard to get a good shot. In the end, it was Okada's own pistol that gave the required opening. Shooting everything in sight, Okada badly hurt everything around the Avatar and outright killed one of the Andromedons. After being shot, however, the Avatar disappeared, teleporting away from danger.

"Where'd it go!?" Ray hollered as he fired at a Muton. "We need to know where it is!" In that instant, the Commanders' Avatar planted an image into everyones' mind, showing them exactly where the Avatar had teleported to. It had gone to the entrance of the room, trying to flee to safety. "Kelly, we'll hold these guys down! Go get the bastard!"

"Don't need to tell me twice!" Kelly screamed as she ran past the Berserker that Dekker tripped, past Okada as he took a shot to his shoulder and fell from the platform he was on, past the Commanders' Avatar as it dropped another Rift on the aliens. Dodging weaponfire from all the aliens, Kelly ran back to where they came in, and was not disappointed to see a wounded Avatar kneeling on the ground, holding its' hand to a bleeding wound. With a scream carrying the rage of all Humanity, Kelly charged the Avatar. The alien looked at her, and underneath the mask was a face filled with fear. Slamming into it, Kelly sent the Avatar into a nearby wall. Dazed from the blow, it couldn't dodge as Kelly shoved her shotgun through its' mask, sending glass shards into its' face. The Avatar didn't even get a chance to scream before Kelly pulled the trigger. The Talon Rounds shot out, shattering the wall and striking the Berserker that was just getting back to its' feet. And they did all this after obliterating the Avatar's head.

Along with the psionic scream, every alien in the room gave a scream and held their heads in agony. With the Elders' Avatars suffering painful demises, their control was waning. Using the aliens' sudden migraines to their advantage, everyone made a high-speed beeline right back to the psionic gate. They arrived to see the gateway collapse, leaving them stranded.

"Now what!?" Ray screamed, looking back at the base, watching as the aliens slowly regained their senses. In reply, there was a burst of energy as the gate reopened. The Commanders' Avatar was holding it open. Using one hand to maintain the gate, the Avatar used their other hand to gesture for everyone to go through. Not needing to be told twice, everyone dove through the psionic gate, back to the safety of the Avenger. The instant they passed through, medics were on-scene. Okada was quickly hauled away, covered in plasma burns. Shapira helped Ray get to their feet, the latter being shot in the foot as he dove through the gate. Alan and Dekker just lay on the floor, winded and burned from the enemy weapons. Kelly was the only one who remained unharmed the entire mission, and her eyes were on the fluctuating gate. She looked through the images of the gate to see the Commanders' Avatar under psionic attack from the Elders' minds. She watched as the Avatar pushed them back, eventually unleashing a psionic blast that obliterated everything, including the gate. 

Then there was silence. Everyone was slowly carried to the medical bay to be treated. No words were said during the trip. No words needed saying. 

They had won.