Chapter 2 – Combat Evolved

15th May 2157

Real Simulation Mission 'All Sweep'

XCOM Simulation Ground 7. Location: [UNAUTHORIZED], Earth

A large rectangular spaceship can be seen hovering above a ruined city. The spaceship, despite its size, was silent and unmoving, as if it was observing something in the city. And indeed it was.

The bridge of ASV-Monitor was bustling with activities. Most of the staff were busy on their workstations, supervising the ship as well as the current simulation that was happening in the city. Meanwhile, large holographic monitors filled the air of the bridge, showing various statistics of the simulation to the higher ups of the ship. Sitting on a chair at the center of the bridge was the Monitor's commander, Captain Randall Gray. He has black hair with equally black eyes and trimmed full face beard. On his left was a woman with shoulder length red hair and green eyes. She was Colonel Jan Shepard.

"Your students are doing well," Captain Randall stated.

"As they should be. I'd make them filter their own piss using only psion and have them drink it if they couldn't get to the end," Shepard said with a smirk and Captain Randall chuckled.

"So do you think that your students can beat Team Sigma's survival time?" Captain Randall asked and Shepard snorted.

"Considering that they're going against Hei Feng? Oh yes. She's itching for a good fight and that she's going against my students, I bet she would want to enjoy it," Shepard smirked. Captain Randall shook his head before continuing.

"Well that's not fair if she dragged it out. And I thought Warmages are all about efficiency and not letting personal eccentricities get in the way?"

"That's true but Hei Feng's a pro. In a real battle, she's the coldest bitch you'll ever face on the battlefield. Besides, you gotta have fun sometimes, right?" Shepard smiled at the captain.

"If that's what keep you guys sane, sure go for it," the Captain replied.

"It does," Shepard said and suddenly, one of the staff alerted them.

"Sir! Psi Team is approaching the third Hornet team!"

The Captain only nod his head in reply and Shepard's grin grew wider.

"Come on my cute Sheeps, make your Shepard proud," Shepard said and the Captain could only shook his head before returning his attention to the monitors. His eyes then landed on the Psi Team's information.

PSI Team

PSI-1 LEADER, ASSAULT: FUAD WAHID

PSI-2 SUPPORT: JAI VASANT

PSI-3 HEAVY: MEI JIAN FENG

PSI-4 SNIPER: SASHA KOTSYA

PSI-5 ASSAULT: MORGAN DORIAN

…

The ruined city was silent. Too silent. And that was not a good sign.

Three fully armored and well-armed figures stalked the streets silently. The street was filled with disabled vehicles of different variety in haphazard fashion. One car was fused to a truck in a way that it shouldn't have. Another car had smashed into a shop, its rear was sticking out like a creative display. The chaotic arrangement of the vehicles shows that they were trying to run away from something terrible, and failed spectacularly.

Terror. That was the impression it was supposed to give anyway.

The leader of the armored figure gave a sign and each of them quickly took cover behind the closest vehicles to them. Suddenly, a gunshot could be heard and a trail of green can be seen hitting from the window of a tall building 700 meters from the three armored figures.

"Enemy sniper down. Psi-1, I think we've disturbed the hornet's nest," the leader of the armored figure, Fuad Wahid, codename Psi-1 could hear from the communication device in his helmet and he nodded.

"Good, time to clear out the nest,"

At that moment, a stream of fire raced out from the buildings in front of them, pelting their cover mercilessly.

"Killers, return fire," Fuad said to his two ground members. They nodded and returned fire to the attackers.

"Psi-team, I've tagged the location of the hornets. Unable to engage from here," Psi-5 said. Immediately, the ground members of Psi team saw target icons appear on their HUD.

"Roger. Hunters stand by on overwatch," Fuad quickly assessed the situation. 4 hostiles tagged. 2 were in close proximity on the second floor of the building on the right side of the street. 1 in cover behind a van 100 meters in front of them while another behind a nearby truck.

"Psi-2, mine our back!" Fuad ordered. The team's support was Jai Vasant, nicknamed Psi-2. He silently nodded and threw out three mines to cover their back. Once the job was done, the Support resumed firing at the enemy.

"Psi-5, flank the ones on the street." Fuad ordered and Psi-5 gave his affirmative.

…

On the roof of a building near the ground 'Killers' of Psi Team, two armored figures can be seen. They were the 'Hunters' of Psi team.

"I'm going to hunt now, you good on your own?" Morgan Dorian or Psi-5 asked his teammate.

"I'll be fine," Psi-4, Sasha Kotsya the Sniper replied somewhat grudgingly. She didn't even look away from the scope of her sniper rifle. Morgan nodded and activated his cloaking module. In less than a second, he was invisible to the naked eye. He then started running towards the ledge before jumping off of it to the next building.

The gap between the buildings was impossible for a normal human to jump across. However, the armor worn by Morgan granted him superhuman strength and allowed him to make the impossible jump. He then made a roll as soon as his feet touched the ground to conserve momentum and resume his run. Morgan then took out a grenade and primed it before he reached his destination.

The two armored hostiles on the street failed to notice him and Morgan took the chance to throw the grenade at the farthest target. He didn't bother to look where the grenade landed after that and quickly took his rifle. As soon as Morgan opened fire, the cloaking module was disabled, denying him his invisibility. But it has served its purpose and wasn't needed at the time.

The flanking attack surprised the hostiles and they immediately turned at him. However, before they could respond, the farthest hostile was consumed by the thrown grenade. The remaining hostile was showered with green bullets that splashed against the energy shield. It weathered a couple of shots before it was disabled, allowing the green bullets to hit the hostile directly. Soon, the blue hostile was covered in green splashes of paint. The enemy armor's onboard computer calculated that it has accumulated enough simulated damage for its wearer to be dead and locked itself down. The hostile then fell to the ground, 'dead'.

Morgan lingered for a second to confirm his kill before reactivating his cloak again to rejoin his Hunter teammate.

"Hornets swatted,"

…

Being a Hunter was not easy, especially when you're the resident sniper. A Hunter's job was to spot distance targets and shoot them down while the close to medium range Killers close in for the kill. Hence, the Hunter-Killer term.

Of course, Sasha wasn't the only Hunter. However, her Hunter partner, Morgan wasn't a sniper like her. His job was to guard her to ensure that nothing managed to sneak up on her. But, as per her leader's orders, her bodyguard had other things to do right now.

So now Sasha had 3 simultaneous jobs; watch Morgan's back while he was trying to flank the enemy, shoot any enemy that she could and watch her own back.

The sniper could only hope that nothing scary would happen to her.

Suddenly, a missile can be seen racing from a hostile on the street and she calmed warned her ground team. "Missile,"

The projectile suddenly flew sky high before arcing back towards the ground. At that instant, Sasha cursed but she didn't peel her eyes away from the scope. It was lucky that she was cloaked. If not, the missile would have changed its target to her.

An explosion could be her and a moment later, she saw a grenade covered in purple energy flew towards the two hostiles in the building. An explosion could be heard before her leader confirmed the kill. A beat later, her bodyguard, Morgan also confirmed his kill.

Things were going well for them, for now.

…

"Blow 'em up?" Psi-3, Mei Jian Feng the Heavy asked and Fuad nodded.

"Grenade! Fly her up to the ones in the building!" Mei nodded but Fuad knew that she was grinning inside her helmet. The Heavy took out a grenade and primed it before Fuad send a streamer of purple energy at Mei, creating a link between them. Then, a purple glow covered the explosive and it started to float. However, at the same time, a calm warning could be heard.

"Missile," Sasha warned and immediately, without order, Jai stopped firing and erected a dome of purple energy around his team. The hostile ordnance travelled straight at first but then flew upwards, trying to bypass the defense. However as it found no opening, it arced back towards the Psi Team.

The projectile exploded in a shower of white foam and Jai used his psionic powers to throw away the foam. Meanwhile, Fuad fire at the hostiles in the building. Most of it missed due to their cover but that was fine. His goal wasn't to 'kill' them with his gun.

Mei then send the psionically-delivered grenade flying upwards and it raced through the air at its target. By right, because Mei was hunkering down behind her cover, she shouldn't be able to see where she was sending the grenade. However, the mind merge she had with Fuad provided the vision she needed.

The hostile tried to shoot the flying explosive down, but it weaved around gracefully and managed to get in between the two before it a burst into smaller explosives. The smaller projectiles exploded instantly, releasing a huge amount of white foam. At first, some of the white foam dissipated when it made contact with the hostile's energy shields. However, it also took down the shields, which left them vulnerable to the remaining white foam. The foam, unimpeded by the energy shield, instantly hardened, trapping the hostiles.

"2 hornets down!" Fuad said.

"Fuck yeah!" Mei cheered.

"Hornets swatted," Morgan confirmed.

"Good, are we cle-" Fuad was about to ask when an explosion could be heard behind them. The Killer team turn around and saw a hostile covered in white foam. He must have been cloaked and was about to ambush them. Unfortunately, he must have gotten too close to the smart mines.

The ground team trained their rifle towards the direction of the disabled hostile and for a few seconds, everything was quiet. Fuad send out a weak pulse of purple wave of psionic, gently pushing everything it hits. Seeing no distortion of air, the telltale sign of cloaked enemy, Fuad declared that it was safe.

"Clear," Fuad said and the Hunter team repeated the confirmation. "Alright, check your gear and reload your weapons. We're moving in a minute,"

His team confirmed the order and it was silent for a second before somebody spoke. "Well, that was easy. This was the third enemy team we've encountered. It would be nice if the whole mission goes like this," Mei said as she placed her 'plasma' repeater on the trunk of a car and did some light stretching.

"Tell me about it. Even the VR missions are harder than this," Sasha said.

"They always set the VR missions to the highest difficulty level. I guess the gruesome training we did in there actually paid off, huh?" Jai said next.

Morgan chuckled. "That's funny, they go to great length to make sure the VR missions feels like real, even letting us feel realistic pain and amped the difficulty. And yet, in the real world, they gave us mock weapons and somewhat easy mission. I'd feel insulted,"

"There's only so far they can do in real world without causing death," Fuad said. All XCOM and Alliance military had a variety of training regime. One of them was the Virtual Reality simulations. Needless to say, it was training from hell. In the VR, the system would inflict realistic pain, to a certain extent.

You were vaporized by a plasma grenade? Your whole body would feel as if it was cooked. A MEC ripped you apart and caused you to bleed to death? Nobody was sure how the tech heads managed to replicate the experience but needless to say, combined with the near impossible difficulty setting, almost everyone hated the VR. Not to mention that 'dead' soldiers and their team would get heavy punishments as incentive for them not to 'die' in the next VR training.

Of course, the VR was the only place they could go wild. They could experience what it feels like to use all the techs without restrictions such as the mobile suits, Titan mechs and energy weapons.

"Still, I have a feeling that something's not right. I'm not surprised if they suddenly spike the difficulty…" Fuad said and Sasha groaned. "If anything, think of it like a survival wave in videogames. They've send the easy wave. Now it's time for the medium wave,"

"Great," Sasha said.

"You're right. Besides, we don't know who the target is," Jai said and his HUD's minimap zoomed in to show a red arrow. It was their primary goal.

"It could be a Warmage," Mei shrugged and everybody groaned.

"You've tempted fate! Of all the – why must you pick a Warmage?" Sasha said.

"Oh come on, you know it's going to happen. Every senior team has to face them and so far, we've haven't face one," Mei said.

"Have to agree. Besides, this mission is way too easy," Morgan said.

"Yeah, I think they're trying to make us lower our guard. Still, I think that we've faced worse than a Warmage, like our dear beloved teacher," Fuad said with a joking tone and everyone groaned.

"Anyway, time to move on. Ready?" Fuad asked and everybody confirmed positive. Fuad then ordered for them to press forward.

The ground team stalked from cover to cover quickly, while the sniper team would carefully traverse the rooftops without causing too much distortion to their cloaks.

After a few minutes, they were just 300 meters away from their primary target and still there was no enemy in sight. Everyone was feeling a bit trigger happy, ready to unleash everything on anything hostile.

"Guys, my spider-sense is tingling. Something's up ahead," Jai said and Fuad ordered everyone to stop and get to cover.

Sure enough, the wall of a building in front of them exploded and an armored figure 2.5 meters tall appeared from the smoke generated by the debris. It was a MEC, a super-heavy infantry unit and it was armed to the teeth. Its left hand was holding a grenade launcher, its right hand a 'plasma' canon. And if that wasn't enough, its right shoulder has a missile launcher and it was also accompanied by a support drone.

Fuad's eyes widened before he ordered his ground team to head into the building. Any cover from the street would be useless against the heavy weapons the MEC was packing. And sure enough, it was proven true when the MEC fired its grenade launcher, sending an explosive projectile racing through the air towards the ground Psi team.

The ground team couldn't get into the building quick enough when the projectile managed to get in the center of the formation and exploded. The grenade was a special one however. The first explosion send out a wave of mass effect field, which lowers the mass of surrounding objects. The second explosion, just 1 second later send out a shockwave. With their mass reduced, the shockwave would send any affected objects further away.

The shockwave sent Jai crashing into a café through the windows while Mei smashed straight into the wall of a building. Fuad however, was thrown further backwards into the streets.

…

Morgan could only looked in silence as the MEC started to appear from the smoke. From this range, his weapon wouldn't do much damage and it would reveal their location away. No doubt the MEC would use its missile launcher to counter them. The decision to strike was now in Sasha's hands and no doubt, she was lining for the perfect shot.

For now, Morgan could only assess the situation. MEC nowadays was very different from the first generation MECs that XCOM had used back then as a person no longer has to amputate their limbs. Instead, the MECs of today were just like the powered armor the Psi Team were using, except that MECs were much bigger, heavier and stronger. Not to mention that current generation MECs were sleeker than the boxy first generation MECs. They resembled more of a tall human than a boxy robot human*. Furthermore, since the person using the MEC was basically just like the rest of Psi Team, they can use psionic abilities as well.

The MECs began its assault and already it was devastating. The entire ground team was hit, but Morgan wasn't worried because he know they'll 'survive'. What had him worried was that his early threat detection psionic sense or as everyone would like to call it, 'spider sense' was going off like crazy.

Morgan really wished that his spider sense would be more specific.

Suddenly, realization dawned on him. The MEC on the street was a Killer MEC! That means there was a Hunter MEC somewhere!

And military training and tactics had taught him that usually, Hunters take on Hunters. Which meant…

Before Morgan could do anything more, Sasha released a shot at the MEC's head. Unfortunately, the support drone realized this and blocked the shot with its own body. Green paint splashed the drone with enough force to send it knocking the MEC's head with an audible sound. Although the drone suffered no damage, the paint was supposed to emulate plasma fire and its onboard computer decided that it has been 'destroyed'. The drone then fell to the ground with a low whine.

Sasha cursed in Russian and released another shot. This time, the MEC used his grenade launcher to block the shot, splashing the weapon with paint and 'destroying' it before throwing it away. Sasha cursed again and Morgan's hunch was right. The MEC didn't retaliate with its missile launcher but it instead turned its focus back on the ground team.

Morgan immediately turned around and saw a jetpack exhaust in midair but there was no body. Then almost immediately, the light around the jetpack distorted to reveal another MEC. The MEC was suspended in the air for a moment before it reared its left hand back and its jetpack roared, sending it flying towards Sasha.

Morgan immediately grabbed Sasha who protested at the sudden action and threw her to another side of the rooftop and the MEC missed her and Morgan by a hair's breath. Sasha slid for a short while before the rooftop's ledge stopped her.

"Oh," Sasha simply said after realizing what had happened. Morgan however, wasn't so lucky. The Hunter MEC used the momentum from the missed punch earlier to backhand Morgan. The MEC's left hand was equipped with a modern kinetic strike module which, on contact releases a burst of mass effect field to reduce the target's mass. Then the pile driver delivers the kinetic strike.

However, the kinetic strike was meant to hit targets straight ahead in a manner of a punch and not backhand swing. Thus, Morgan was only affected by the mass effect field. However, since MECs even unarmed can level a building, the force was strong enough to send Morgan sliding across the rooftop, smash through its ledge and into the streets below.

"Oh no," Sasha said after seeing the event. The Hunter MEC then turned to face Sasha and activated its 'plasma' caster mounted on its left shoulder and aimed it at the sniper.

"Oh no you don't!" Sasha said and immediately sniped the weapon. Covered in green paint, the weapon failed to fire but it didn't faze the Hunter MEC, who promptly took out another weapon from its right shoulder.

The weapon was a short sword, half the MEC's height. If anything, it looked comical on the MEC, as if it was using a weapon one size too short for it. That was until the sword's blade opened and a holographic green beam shot out from it.

Although it was holographic but Sasha knew what it represent. A particle beam shaped in the form of a blade. The non-training version of the sword, the one with the real particle beam blade can cleave a healthy Titan mech in half. Hell, give it time and it can dismantle starships.

Needless to say, a direct hit from the sword and Sasha will be out of the training.

"Oh you gotta be kidding me!"

…

The attack by the Psi team's Hunters proved to be invaluable as it allowed Fuad to regain his bearings. Without getting up from the ground, Fuad send out a short range psionic pulse to detect where his friends were. In an instant, he found Mei just a few meters ahead of him.

He tried to search for his weapons but it seems that the blast had scattered all of his ranged weapons. Mei lost most of her weapons as well, save for her missile launcher. Having no time to waste, he turned to look at his closest team member.

Like from a comedy cartoon, Mei was embedded face first into the wall and had left an imprint. What was more, her limbs were spread out in an X formation. Suppressing his urge to laugh, he used his psionic ability to pull out Mei out of the wall and formed a link with her.

'Wake up!' Fuad telepathically urged and Mei jolted awake but didn't get up to her feet yet. However, the Killer MEC was already turning its attention to them and was about to launch its missile. Fortunately, a smoke grenade landed on the near them and released its payload. The smoke prevented a visual lock-on and even then, the MEC were distracted by the cover fire provided by Jai from the inside of the café.

'Get ready, I have a plan!' Fuad said and Mei nodded.

'Lead on,' Mei replied.

…

'The fall was too quick,' Morgan thought as he stared at the sky. Like a bad movie flick, he landed on a car and it cushioned his fall. Not that it matters anyway as their armor could protect them from the fall. What bugged him was that he could have recovered from the fall and activate his jetpack to get back into the fight.

'That would have been cool.' He thought. 'Oh well, time to get back to the fight or I'll never hear the end of it from Sasha,'

Morgan climbed back to his feet and cracked his neck. Then, flaps on the back of his armor opened to reveal jetpack thrusters and it flared to life. In less than a second, Morgan was already back on the rooftop and the situation wasn't so bad. That was until the Hunter MEC pulled out its 'anti-everything' sword.

Morgan who was still in the air, began shooting at the MEC. The MEC ignored it, knowing that it can survive a full clip from a 'plasma' rifle and charged at Sasha who was still on the floor. The MEC slashed horizontally but Sasha activated her jetpack and flew upwards.

'Should have flown backwards away!' Morgan thought and sure enough, before Sasha could even fly a meter away from the MEC, it jumped high enough to grab the sniper's neck and throw her back to the rooftop.

'GAH!' Sasha screamed. Not from pain but from shock. The MEC, still in the air, brought up his sword above his head and began to fall towards Sasha.

The Hunter MEC was about to bring down his sword on the sniper but her guardian delivered a mid-air kick first. The attack was enough to cause the MEC to release its sword. Unfortunately, Morgan didn't released his attack as his left foot was still connected to the MEC's hip. The MEC then chose to press on the advantage. It was faster to react as it reorient itself to face Morgan and activated its own jetpack to counter the force and for a moment, the both of them was hanging in mid-air.

Now it was Morgan's turn to be surprised and the MEC capitalize on it. The MEC grabbed Morgan and dived towards the rooftop before slamming him to the floor. The Hunter MEC deliberately held back however to prevent him from smashing into the building and it immediately reared its left hand back for a devastating punch.

Fortunately, the MEC changed its mind and blocked its head with the kinetic strike module before a sniper round could hit it.

"Nuh-uh!" Sasha said.

Morgan then took this advantage to push the MEC away from him and activate his jetpack, propelling him across the floor. Along the way, his hand accidently reached for the MEC's beam sword and he took it. His jetpacks then changed its thrust towards the floor, pushing him away from it. Morgan then deactivated his jetpacks and he was back on his feet again.

"Hold him!" Morgan ordered and Sasha nodded before she send a purple tendril at the MEC. The MEC was already on its feet when he was rendered immobile by the purple tendril. Morgan took this chance and initiated a jetpack-assisted dash towards his target.

The immobile Hunter MEC however, managed to break free of the psionic grasp by releasing its own burst of psionic energy. However, it didn't do the MEC any good as Morgan had already reached it and slashed horizontally. The holographic green blade made contact with the MEC's midsection, its length shortened for a moment before regaining its original length once it has passed.

For a few seconds, everything was quiet and nothing move. Then, after it felt like an eternity, the Hunter MEC fell backwards and the sword in Morgan's hand shut itself down.

"Fuuuuuuuucccccckkk," Sasha said as both Psi Hunters fell on their asses.

"That was intense," Morgan said. "Come on, we have to help the others,"

"Right, right," Sasha waved and the both of them got to their feet.

…

The Killer MEC was firing rounds after rounds of its 'plasma' cannon into the café where Jai was hiding, splattering the inside with green paint. Although the 'plasma' cannon shoots green paint, it has enough force to send a MEC flying backwards for a few meters. As such, every piece of furniture in the café was blown to smithereens.

The smoke covering Fuad and 3 was about to clear and the MEC knew that something must be done soon. It then aimed his missile launcher into the café and opted for manual aim instead. Unfortunately, the MEC's system warned him that he has been locked on and the sound of a missile launch could be heard.

The MEC immediately turned its attention towards the streets again and found a speeding missile heading towards it. Its system locked on to the missile and the MEC launched its own. The two then collided mid-air and released its payload of white foam.

Suddenly, Fuad ran through the white foam before it can harden and Mei jumped over the white foam with a yell. The MEC decided to attack Mei with its cannon while at the same time, sending a purple tendril at Fuad. The psionic attack was cancelled by Fuad's own psionic spear while Mei deflected the shots away.

Mei managed to land near the MEC and grabbed its 'plasma' cannon before crushing it in a destructive hug. With no more ranged weapons left, the MEC was forced to engage in melee. It released its weapon and surged forward, grabbing Mei's helmet, who let out a startled gasp. Its free hand reached to Fuad but he slid underneath him.

At that moment, Jai jumped out of the café's window and threw his 'plasma' rifle at Fuad. Fuad caught it while the MEC threw the Heavy at the Support. Jai expected this and caught his teammate while Fuad released a barrage of 'plasma' fire. The MEC's shield faltered but at the same time, Ps-1's weapon ran out of ammo for the kill.

The MEC knew that it won't last long and decided to make its escape. It was about to jetpack away when purple tendrils latched on to it, courtesy of Mei. Fuad took this chance to brandish his knife and launched himself at the MEC. He managed to 'stab' the training knife's holographic blade into the MEC's neck before he pressed a trigger on the knife.

In a real battle, the knife would have pierced the less armored neck and deliver a massive electric shock strong enough to kill even the heaviest augmented soldier. As such, the MEC's onboard computer registered the 'damage' and locked the armor down, signifying that it was 'dead'.

Everyone sighed in relief before Fuad asked about the other team's condition.

"Hunter Team all good, killed the freaking wasp," Morgan replied.

Fuad chuckled. "Good, good. As usual, get here ASAP,"

"Already OTW," Sasha confirmed and Fuad nodded. He then turned towards his Killer members who was picking up their weapons.

"All weapons green," Jai said and threw Fuad his weapons.

"Alright, get ready to move," Fuad said and Mei did a little stretching exercise.

"Okay now I'm sure we're gonna face a Warmage after this," Mei said. "And knowing our teacher's sadistic nature, she might be here herself,"

"Oh god no," Sasha said and Fuad looked up and saw the decloaking Hunters looking at them from a rooftop. "I rather face any other Warmage than her,"

"Still, Mei is right. We need to prepare for the possibility of facing a Warmage," Fuad said.

"That's the problem, almost nothing works against a Warmage," Morgan asked.

"I heard from the seniors that nothing short of orbital bombardment or divine intervention that would work," Jai added.

"What would I do for a divine intervention," Sasha said and the team chuckled.

"Who knows, we might get it. Still…we have to move. If we linger any longer they're going to send more enemies at us," Fuad said and ordered his team to move forward.

The team confirmed the order and began to move cautiously and silently. While the rest the team were checking their surroundings, Fuad was busy pondering valid strategies that could be used against a Warmage and so far he got nothing. Thinking that maybe he missed something that could be vital, Fuad began a mental revision of just what are Warmages.

Warmage was a title given to the very best human psionic soldiers. Proficient in all forms of psionic abilities, they specialize in psionic and anti-psionic warfare. Of course, having made an example from the Ethereals, they didn't focus on just psionic but on their physical as well. A Warmage is capable of engaging enemies from all range and all form of combat and can operate almost any weapons and vehicles.

Needless to say, they were humanity's cream of the crop, the best of the best. If the Ethereals could see the Warmage now, they would be green with envy.

They were the closest thing to a perfect soldier that humanity have.

Soon they reached a weird obstacle which broke Fuad from his thoughts. It was a barrier made from cars blocking the path ahead.

"Looks like we have to-" Fuad couldn't finish as the cars moved on its own to reveal an opening.

And then, they saw her.

"Shit! Warmage!" Sasha warned and the Killer of Psi team get to cover. Fuad peeked from his cover to get a good look at their target. The Warmage was dressed in all slender black armor that gave away her gender. The armor also has a tailcoat that were long enough to go past the knees but not reach the ground. What was perhaps the most striking feature of the Warmage was her helmet**. It was a reflective jet-black and lacked any features or design like the other helmets usually have. The reflective nature has its purpose; get close enough and you would see your own fear-stricken face.

Warmages were specialized in anti-psionic warfare and since psionic strength tend to fluctuate depending on the state of mind, part of their strategy was fear. And it worked somewhat, seeing the all black figure as if it was Death itself.

Furthermore, the Warmage was currently sitting crossed legged while floating half a meter above the ground. A 'plasma' rifle floated in her left hand and it was constantly being disassembled and reassembled, a testament to her psionic strength and control.

"Why is she just sitting there?" Morgan asked.

"She's waiting for us to make a move. That's quite generous of her," Jai answered and it was true. A month ago, Beta Team was taken down in 7 seconds and they didn't realized that it was a Warmage that had taken them down.

"Let's take the chance then! What do we do now?" Sasha asked.

"On my orders, Psi-4 take a shot, Psi-3 missile, Psi-2 and I are going to shoot her," Fuad ordered and his team confirmed the order. The Warmage seemed to notice this as she floated back to the ground and the assembled rifle was placed on her left. She then linked her hands together and placed them on her lap.

"Ready…now!"

A sniper fire could be heard and at the same time, a missile was flying towards their target followed by a hail of 'plasma' fire. The sniper shot was faster and once it was only a few meters away from its target, the Warmage flicked her left hand and changed the bullet's trajectory towards the missile. The bullet hit the missile and it send the explosive projectile crashing to the far left, missing its target completely. Her right hand then shot forward and the remaining bullets from Fuad and Jai's shots were deflected completely.

Fuad wasn't finished however. "Hold her!" he ordered and Jai and Mei nodded. Their hands lashed out and send a purple tendril to hold their target in place. Meanwhile Fuad send out a fast moving psi bullet meant to knock its target away.

The Warmage's body glowed purple when the tendrils struck her, indicating that their psionic hold had connected. However, before Fuad's psi bullet could reach her, a psionic wave erupted from her body, deflecting the bullet and knocking the Killers of Psi Team to the ground.

And just like that, their attack was rendered useless. If this was a videogame, Warmages were just straight up cheating.

"Can we call that orbital strike now?" Mei asked.

"I could do with a divine intervention," Jai said.

"Guys, the Warmage is doing something!" Morgan said and Fuad quickly get back to his feet. Sure enough, the Warmage waved her hand and the streets around her became alive. It formed a dome around her, shielding her from the world.

'Dammit! What is she trying to do?!' Fuad thought to herself.

...

Sasha could only stare as the Warmage was rendering all of their attacks ineffective. She really wished she could just empty her clip on their but she couldn't. The worst thing that could happen was to have her shot deflected at her teammates.

Morgan looked agitated as well, wishing that he could help the Killers but he couldn't. One of the Warmage's abilities was teleportation. If he moved and leave Sasha alone…

Suddenly, the Warmage encased herself in a protective dome made from the streets itself. Thinking that the Warmage might not be able to see them, Morgan signaled Sasha to follow him. Sasha gave him a skeptical look but it couldn't be seen because of her helmet. Nevertheless, she decided to follow him anyway and the both of them activated their cloaking module

Morgan could only took a single step before his module deactivated again and he was already on his knees. Suddenly, his vitals flashed red and Morgan fell face forward to the floor. And just like that, Morgan was 'dead'.

"Shit, now-" Sasha couldn't finished as suddenly she could hear her own voice spoke to her creepily.

There you are…

"What the fuc-" and instantly, her armor locked itself down and a red message flashed angrily on her HUD.

YOU ARE DEAD. SWITCHING COMMUNICATION CHANNELS.

"What?! How did I die?! How did Morgan die?!" Sasha asked. Since she was dead, she couldn't communicate with her still 'living' members. She can however communicate with her 'dead' members.

CAUSE OF DEATH: HEAD HORIZONTALLY SEVERED IN HALF ABOVE THE NOSE. INSTANT DEATH.

"My head was cut in half!? By what?!"

Before her body could fell to the floor, Sasha could see an object decloaking itself. The object in question was a hilt of a knife made from psionite, a psion material. The psionite object was glowing purple and a holographic purple blade was sticking out from one end.

"What is it? I can't see," Morgan asked.

"Shit. It's a psionite knife," Sasha replied and her body fell to the floor with a loud thump. A psionite material was sensitive to psion, the energy powering psionic abilities. A person can channel their psion into it for a variety of purposes. Heck, Sasha figured that the Warmage channeled her thoughts into the psionite knife, allowing her to see what the knife sees and control it from far. Furthermore, a psionite shaped blade channeled with psion can cut through almost anything effortlessly. Hence, that was why the psionite blade's holographic blade glowed purple, the sign of psion instead of the green of particle weapons.

It was why the Warmage hid under the dome. She needed all of her concentration to control the psionic knife from that range.

"Damn," Morgan said.

"Damn indeed," Sasha replied. They couldn't do anything but to wait.

…

"Shit, now-" Sasha couldn't finish as Morgan's vitals suddenly showed that he was dead.

"What happened?!" Fuad asked before he heard

"What the fuc-" Sasha could only say before she was taken out as well.

"What?! How?!" Mei asked. Before the question could be answered, the dome parted to reveal the Warmage again.

She raised both of her hands and suddenly, 10 'plasma' rifle flew out from the streets and floated above her.

Fuad's eyes widened. "Take cover!" Fuad ordered and his team complied before the weapons fired. "Take them out! No grenades!"

Mei clicked her tongue in disapproval before shooting at the floating weapons with her 'plasma' repeater. Fortunately for them, the floating rifle wasn't very accurate and they were able to take half down without taking too much damage.

Suddenly, two rifles shot forward like a bullet and it hit Mei's and Fuad's weapons with such force that both of the weapons were destroyed. The remaining three rifles flew closer towards them, while dodging Jai's bullets.

The rifles were now hovering above them and began raining fire while moving around erratically. The three Psi members dodged and ducked around the fire before they retaliated. Mei took out her gun and shot one down, Fuad threw a psionic spear that destroyed one and Jai destroyed the final rifle just before he ran out of ammo.

With the flying weapons taken out, they then turned their attention back to the Warmage, only to found her to be missing. Then, an intense feeling of fear washed over them and the world began to darken. Suddenly, an unintelligible whispering assaulted their ears and they could see creatures hiding and observing them from the shadows.

The remaining Psi team were experiencing a psionic-induced fear. Unfortunately, it was working.

Although they knew what they were seeing wasn't real, it was still hard to convince their bodies otherwise. Their were trembling and the fear rooted them to the spot. The creatures, as if sensing their fear, began to move out from their hiding spot and revealed themselves.

The creatures were naked humanoids but they didn't have any sexual features. Furthermore, they didn't have any face or ears yet somehow, the sound of babies crying could be heard from them. The creatures then began converging on them and Psi team instantly backed away.

"Fuck! Stay away!" Mei said and began shooting at the creatures. Some of the shots hit the mark but it was futile as more would replace the fallen.

"Run, run!" Jai said and although Fuad wanted to say no, his body complied and the three of them turned around.

Only to find the Warmage waiting for them.

The Warmage looked different than before. Its black armor was constantly moving, as if it was alive and the jet-black helmet suddenly parted open vertically to reveal rows upon rows of teeth.

Three fat little sheeps, ready for the slaughter!

The Warmage turned monstrosity said with their own voices combined.

"Nooo!" Mei said and aimed her gun only to find it empty. "Shit! Get away from-"

The Warmage lunged her left hand at Mei's neck and began choking her singlehandedly. Mei could only mutter gibberish word as the air began to leave her. She tried to defy the monstrous Warmage by kicking and punching but it was obvious that her strength was fading.

Meanwhile, the creatures began to swarm the remaining Psi team and they tried desperately to fend them off. However, the creatures were too many and they fell to the ground. The creatures then began clawing at them frantically. Jai were already screaming his head off while trying to fight away the creatures. Fuad wanted to do the same but somehow, he managed only to cover his face with his arms.

And that action proved to be useful as it stopped him from seeing the horrific creatures and it allowed him to regain his sense of mind and courage. Fuad then decided to capitalize on the chance lest it will be consumed by fear again.

With a cry, Fuad sent out a burst of psionic inspiration and instantly, the horrors were gone and everything was silent again. Realizing that he had managed to dispel the psionic fear, he quickly got back to his feet to engage the unstoppable psionic soldier. He quickly scanned the area for his target and quickly found that the Warmage still chocking Mei. Fortunately, Mei managed to regain her courage to quickly react. She tightened her grip on the Warmage's hand before pulling out a grenade and prime it, hoping that she would be able to take her down with it.

Unfortunately, the Warmage didn't look the least worried. In fact, she even wiggled her finger before immobilizing Mei in a psionic grip and send her flying away.

"No!" Fuad cried but he was too late as the grenade exploded a few seconds later and Mei's vitals went red.

Fuad and Jai went still at the sight. Now there was only the two of them left. The Warmage slowly turn towards them and made a welcoming gesture with her left hand, challenging and taunting them at the same time.

"Damn you!" Jai screamed and charged at the Warmage and engaged her in melee.

As expected, the Warmage easily evaded and parried Jai's strikes but he wasn't giving up. Seeing no other option right now, Fuad joined in the fight and attacked the Warmage from behind. Unfortunately, it wasn't going well. Try as they might, they still couldn't land a hit on the Warmage. Each punch was deflected away and each kick couldn't even launch as the Warmage would counter with her own kick first. It was as if she was reading their minds.

'No, she's reading our movements,' Fuad thought.

Jai threw a punch but his target merely deflected it to her side, almost causing him to stumble. The Warmage then delivered a vicious psionic assisted backhand at Jai with enough force to break his neck. Fortunately, modern powered armor's synthetic neck muscles would lock itself up when it detected abnormal neck movements, preventing the neck from being broken.

Fuad seeing that it would be pointless to engage her in hand-to-hand combat, charged her for a tackle. The Warmage merely sidestep and to add insult to injury, tripped his leg, causing him to fall forwards.

Meanwhile, seeing that the Warmage was preoccupied with Fuad, Jay instantly brought out his 'plasma' gun and aimed it at her. Unfortunately, try as he might, he just couldn't pull the trigger and he knew why. His body was surrounded in a thin layer of purple energy and the Warmage slowly turn her head at him.

Jai's hands then slowly moved the gun towards his head. His eyes widened and he willed his own psionic power to repel the Warmage's hold on him. Unfortunately, her psionic strength was stronger and he could only resist it. It won't be long until he would shoot himself with his own gun.

Fuad managed got back to his feet and tried to tackle the Warmage again to break her concentration. It didn't work as the Warmage simply directed a hand at Fuad and he too was caught in the same psionic hold as Jai.

"N..No!" Fuad said through gritted teeth as he tried to resist the psionic hold while being forced to watch Jai commit 'suicide. Unfortunately, he wasn't strong enough.

Jai released an angry scream before he unwillingly pulled the gun on his own head. The support's personal energy shield dissipated a number of rounds before it was overwhelmed. Soon, Jai's helmet was covered in green and his vitals went red in Fuad's HUD.

The Warmage released her hold on Fuad and the remaining squad of Psi Team resumed his tackle. Unfortunately, his target was still holding on to Jai and she threw his teammate at him. Fuad 's tackle was stopped and he almost fell before he regained his footing and as well as his friend. However, the Warmage wasn't done as she sent out powerful psionic push that send the both of them flying 10 meters away.

In the air, the both of them were separated before they touched the ground harshly. The added weight of their body and powered armor destroyed the streets as they bounced a few times before they rolled to a stop.

The Warmage didn't move a muscle as she observed her work in silence. She remained still as a statue as she waited for the leader of Psi Team to get back to his feet. 30 seconds has passed and there wasn't any movement at all. Thinking that her prey might have been knocked unconscious or has given up, the Warmage then began to walk slowly towards her target.

Suddenly, Fuad's right hand clutched into a fist. The Warmage then paused and waited patiently for her prey to regain his strength again.

Meanwhile, there was an emotional storm brewing inside Fuad's being. He was feeling frustrated that he and his team were utterly powerless against the Warmage. He was angry at his friend's defeat, at how easily they were taken down. He was frustrated at the Warmage, at how unstoppable and unfair she was. He was angry at her for toying with them like this.

But most of all, he was frustrated and angry at himself, at how weak and useless he was. He was the team leader! He was supposed to lead them to success!

Fuad weakly sat himself on his knees and his head turned on the Warmage. She was just standing there, waiting and mocking him. But what could he do?

Nothing.

He then took out his 'plasma' gun and laid it on his lap, unsure of what to do.

He was tempted to give up and let the Warmage do whatever she wanted with him. Or just commit 'suicide'. He slowly checked his gun to make sure that it was still functional until he found a word engraved on the gun.

FIGHT THE POWER

Then suddenly, he remembered their teacher's words or as she liked to called it, 'The Words of The Shepard,'

'There are times when almost everything will fail you,'

It does sure seem like it right now.

'Your weapon will fail you!'

Nothing in his arsenal will work against her. Certainly not this gun. The Warmage would just deflect it.

'Your armor will fail you!'

If this was a real battle, the Warmage could have just crushed him into a pulp.

'Your tech will fail you!'

He has the best technology humanity had to offer and yet…

'Your own emotions will fail you!'

He was angry, frustrated and afraid. And that made his psionic strength dropped significantly. At this point, he could have just thrown a psionic lance at the Warmage and it would only tickle her.

'Your own mind will fail you!'

His rational and logical mind told him that it was pointless to continue the fight. That he should take flight instead. He should just run away. Just…run...

'However. All those are meaningless! What's truly important is your being, your essence, your spirit! Conquer it, and you will conquer your mind and emotions. Master it and you will master yourself,'

He and his teammate had asked how to do just that. To conquer one's spirit.

'Simple. Just believe in yourself. Not in you that I believe in; not in me that you believe in. Just believe in you that believes yourself,'

'That…you just ripped Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, word by word!' Sasha called their mentor out.

'So? That anime is the epitome of will power! Heck, psionic and Spiral power is almost the same so it is a damn good teaching material!'

'But…that doesn't make sense!' Morgan said.

'It doesn't have to make sense! Just believe in yourself and you can do the impossible! See the invisible, touch the untouchable and break the unbreakable! Now what's our team motto!?'

'FIGHT THE POWER!'

Fuad chuckled at the memory. Right. Even if it would be impossible in the end, he would not give up even before trying! Besides, it wasn't like he had anything more to lose right?

Fuad's mind and emotions calmed down. Now, he could think more clearly and he felt his psionic strength return again. Fuad then slowly got back to his feet and took off his helmet. Fuad Wahid was a young man with brown skin, short unkempt hair that goes everywhere and blue eyes.

The Warmage seemed surprised by this as she titled her head to the side. Fuad threw his helmet away and entered a stance with his gun in his right hand.

"Gun Kata. Think you're up for it?" Fuad said with a smile and made a 'come on' gesture with his gun.

Fuad liked to think that the Warmage smiled as she took out her own gun and entered the same stance as Fuad. The both of them then started to walk slowly towards each other.

Gun Kata before the Ethereal Wars was just a gymnastic gunplay for entertainment purposes in movies. In other words, using firearms in the way that it shouldn't be used. It was extremely dangerous and foolhardy to do in real life…back then. Now, thanks to psionics and other advancements in technology, it was a feasible and extremely effective form of martial arts defense.

However, Gun Katas were hard to learn and even more so to master. Fuad and his team learn it frequently, but he wouldn't call himself a master. Warmages, on the other hand were required to master it.

Still, do the impossible right?

With a calm state of mind and body, Fuad willed his psionic power to enhance all of his senses and focused all of his attention to the upcoming fight.

The both of them came within striking range of each other and neither moved for a few seconds after that. Suddenly, without warning and as fast as lightning, the Warmage aimed her gun at him. Fuad deflected it with his left and tried to grab her wrist but she jerked it away and at the same time, Fuad aimed her gun at her left leg.

As expected, she swatted it away and soon it became a dance between the two of them. One would attack with the gun and the other would swat it away. Sometimes, it wasn't just about trying to get a shot in but also to get a strike with their gun or hands as well. The routine repeated itself many times at high speeds which surprised the both of them.

The Warmage didn't expect for him to be this good. She wasn't holding back and he was matching her!

Fuad was surprised that he was doing quite well against her! In truth he was more surprised by how easy it was for him to anticipate what the Warmage was going to do. When she was about to strike with her left hand, Fuad's would somehow knew it beforehand. Perhaps this was what allowed Warmages to be so powerful.

They managed to master their mind, body and emotions all the time. It was what allowed them to think faster and smarter and keep their psionic strong and consistent.

And right now, Fuad was in the same state.

However, it couldn't last forever. It still doesn't change the fact that the Warmage had more experience than him and she managed to disable his shield. Now the stakes were higher. A plasma gun would take 3 shots to pierce through powered armor but a single hit on his head and he would be out.

And the Warmage realized this as she began to put pressure on her attack to his head. Fuad managed to get a few shots in as well but it wasn't enough to disable her shields or prevent it from regenerating. However, the Warmage was also in the same situation; she need to deliver the headshot quick or his shield would recover and she would need repeat the process again. That wouldn't be possible as their guns do not have enough ammo for that.

The both of them needed to do something to end the fight.

Suddenly, Fuad's spider sense flared like crazy. He didn't know exactly what it was but something was coming at him and it would end him. And it was at that time he had a crazy idea.

His gun hand lashed out at her but before she could swat it, Fuad psionically disassembled the weapon. She realized this and it surprised her, causing her defense to slack for a moment and as a result, her block came out weak. Fuad then send the pieces to smash against her helmet, further distracting her.

The Warmage backed a step and her gun was aimed away from Fuad. Fuad took this chance to disassemble her gun as well. Unfortunately, the Warmage recovered and before Fuad could send the gun pieces away, the Warmage willed it to reassemble itself again.

Suddenly, Fuad's spider senses flared again and instinctively, Fuad brought out his right hand and managed to grab something. To the surprise of both, Fuad had managed to grab the Warmage's psionite knife.

'This is what took down Sasha and Morgan!' Fuad thought.

The both of them recovered their focus but Fuad managed to press on the advantage first. He willed his psionic to disassemble the Warmage's gun and at the same time, twirled the knife and brought it down on her. The Warmage reassembled back the gun her and her left arm block Fuad's right arm, preventing the knife from reaching her.

Soon it became a power struggle between two fronts. Fuad would disassemble the gun while the Warmage would reassemble it back and the process would repeat many times. At the same time, Fuad tried to put his entire strength to bring down the psionite knife to her and the Warmage would resist. All this while, Fuad only stared at the Warmage without showing any kind of struggle.

This was unsettling for the Warmage. Not many could stare down a Warmage especially at a time like this.

Knowing that he needed to put more power, any kind of power to his right hand. And so he channeled his psionic power to the psionite knife. The problem was that the blade was already linked to its master, the Warmage. Soon, the psionite blade glowed a brighter purple from the collective power between the two psikers.

This also had the effect of linking their minds together.

You will DIE!

The Warmage tried but Fuad wasn't fazed. Instead, Fuad returned the thought.

I will win.

Fuad said rather calmly.

You think you CAN? You are INSIGNIFICANT! A SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED!

Fuad didn't care.

I will do the impossible…

Suddenly, the Warmage realized something and turned her head on her psionite knife. Fuad's psion was focusing in the shape of a blade and psionite shards began to form on the hilt.

IMPOSSIBLE!

The Warmage said, more to what was happening than trying to break Fuad's will. For this mission, her psionite knife only has the hilt and the not the blade. However, this guy, a trainee was starting to form a psionite blade in the heat of battle?!

I will see the invisible…

The Warmage turned her head back to Fuad, who doesn't seem to realize what he was doing. She need to do something, quick! She then decided to release her hold on the power struggle for the gun. Immediately, the gun was disassembled and it went flying everywhere. The Warmage then punched with her now free right hand.

I will touch the untouchable…

Only to be intercepted by Fuad's left hand.

Suddenly, for the first time ever since she fought Fuad, she felt fear.

and I will break the unbreakable!

The Warmage's psionite knife was whole again as the blade was formed completely.

You fucker!

The Warmage thought to him in a mixture of anger, fear and awe.

WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?!

With that thought, Fuad overpowered his opponent completely and managed to bring the blade down between her left shoulder and neck. The psionite knife pierced through the energy shield, powered armor, flesh and bone like a hot knife through butter.

Suddenly, everything became deathly quiet as both combatants stared at each other. Then, for what it seemed like an eternity, Fuad declared his victory.

I win.

The Warmage chuckled in his mind before responding.

Hei Feng. The name's Hei Feng.

Fuad raised an eyebrow but decided to return the courtesy nonetheless.

Fuad Wahid.

The Warmage chuckled again.

I know. Funny, I didn't think it was worth remembering before. You better remember my name, fucker, because this isn't done yet. Not by a long shot. I'll give you this victory. But next time…

The Warmage, Hei Feng didn't finish as she dropped to her knees, causing Fuad to release his hold on the psionite knife. Her head then lolled to the front and Fuad took a few steps back until he fell on his back to the ground.

"Fuck… That… was intense!" Fuad said before fatigued overwhelmed him and he lost consciousness.

…

"Damn. That was an impressive show," Captain Randall said.

"Quite. Well fuck me sideways. My little sheeps actually did it!" Shepard exclaimed while running a hand through her red hair. She didn't think that they would win against Hei Feng but they did it! Granted, it wasn't much of a team effort but there was no personal glory in her team. If only one member left and they won, then it was everybody's win as well.

"You're one hell of a shepherd, Shepard," Captain Randall said while shaking his head.

"That I am," Shepard said with a manic grin.

…

...

XCOM Database

- Psionic

Psionic is the ability to manipulate psion (refer codex entry, Psion) that can be used to bend reality, use and create psionic technologies as well as affect the minds of living creatures. The term also refers to a person that has psionic capabilities. A human that has been 'awakened' (successfully activate their psionic powers) can have access to strong, active psionic powers and are called psikers. Non-psikers does not necessarily mean that they do not have psionic powers. Non-psiker humans for example, have weak and passive psionic powers such as 'gut feeling', weak placebo and so on.

A psiker can achieve feats or abilities that are considered to be 'magic' and these abilities are very hard to replicate with current technology. There are many psionic abilities and they are categorized into different categories. Refer the codex entry Psionic Abilities for in depth explanation on known psionic abilities.

The existence psionic has given rise to its study; the field of psionic science. Although many 'ignorant' people (as psionic researchers would like to call them) has argued that psionic is not science. In response to this, Dr. Vahlen, one of the earliest psionic researchers, quoted Clarke's Third Law and Florence Ambrose's variant of the law. Dr. Vahlen even made her own quote, "Magic is simply science that is yet to be understood,"

Research on psionic has created many psionic devices and technology. Refer the codex entry Psionic Technology.

+Psion

Psion is a type of exotic energy. Exotic energy has properties that are either not completely understood or violates known laws of physics. In the case of psion, it violates every known laws of physics. This led to psionic researchers to quote "psion live by its own rules and even then, they tend to break it."

Despite what most people think, psion is not generated by psionic beings. They merely manipulate it, with the only difference between each psionic being is the level of control and amount of psion that can be manipulated at a time. It is unknown how or where psion comes from. Some speculate that it originates from a different dimension, or it just 'pop' into existence or that it is already there in the universe but is invisible to non-psionic beings.

Psion has many exotic properties that are not found in any other matter or energy. However, it is most famous for three properties; its dominance over the fundamental forces (gravity, strong nuclear, weak nuclear and electromagnetic) its capability to transfer sentient thought and emotions as well as that it is exclusively psychoactive.

The first property; the dominance over the fundamental forces is what makes telekinesis/psychokinesis possible and this allows a psiker to influence reality using only psion. On a small scale, a psiker can influence objects by overcoming the effects of gravity, allowing it to float and with enough control, even break the object to its molecular structure. On a large scale, a psiker can influence spacetime itself by creating wormholes, bending space and even teleportation.

The second property; the capability to transfer sentient thought and emotions is what makes telepathic abilities possible. A psiker can among other things, communicate with another sentient creature, transfer and share memories and emotion, share senses, mind reading, mind control and even body jacking. All of these are done without physical interaction and the use of technology.

The third property is that psion is exclusively psychoactive and this is the weirdest property of psion. In the field of psionic, psychoactive refers to the factors that affect psion. The factors are suitable brain and body structure, cognition, consciousness, psyche and mood. These factors mean that not all living sentient creatures and machines can use psion. Psychoactive factors also play a large role in affecting psionic strength.

For example, most psikers experience a drastic drop of psionic strength when experiencing 'downer' moods such as depression, fear, panic and stress. Although there are rare cases where it actually increases psionic strength (ironically, this type of psikers are nicknamed emo). This means that a psiker's psionic strength isn't absolute and can change easily.

What is perhaps the most mind boggling case of psychoactive influence on psionic is called the 'placebo' effect. Humans can 'choose' not to have psionic abilities simply by refusing to have them or not believing in them. For example, during the early years of psionic research, a test subject is made believe that his chances of having psionic ability is zero before undergoing psionic testing. As predicted, the subject failed to awaken. The subject is then told that his initial chance were faulty and that he has a very high chance of having psionic ability instead. Predictably, when going for the second psionic testing, the subject managed awaken. This experiment is repeated for 3 years and 72% of the test subjects managed to awaken when they believe (8% percent failure rate is because of physical condition and 20% is due to unknown factors).

However, despite the high success rate of gaining psiker status, it is easy to lose them as well. Combined with the psychoactive dependent nature of psion, it is very important for psikers to maintain their psychoactive health to ensure psionic stability. Thus, it is not surprising to see high level psikers practice meditation and other calming exercises.

Another special property of psion is that almost every material (that is known to humanity) has zero resistance to psion meaning that psion can go through all material and energy without difficulty. This makes defending against psion using only conventional method (such as hiding in a titanium vault) to be useless.

The second and third properties raises frustrating questions about psion. Why does it react only to the right psychoactive being? How can it transfer something that is intangible and abstract such as thoughts and memories? Where does it come from? This has led many psionic researchers to speculate that perhaps, psion is not a form of energy at all. Some speculate that psion is the souls of every creature that had lived and some even speculate that psion is a being itself.

Regardless, even after 140 years of study, the field of psionic remain as one of the weirdest and mysterious thing known and humanity had only scratched its surface. It is likely that psionic will remain an enigma for a long time unless there is input from other psionic beings other than humans.

+Psionite

Psionite is psion material in the form of crystalline solid or crystal. It is formed when a Psiker concentrates psion into a solid form. It in its inert state, its colour is clear with a tinge of light purple but changes into purple when it is active. Much like its energy counterpart, psionite has exotic properties not found in any other material known to humanity.

Psionite has two different states, inert and active and each exhibits different properties. In its inert state, psionite has the same weight as diamond of the same size (it is unaffected by gravity in its active state). It is also one of the hardest material known, with it being 9 times harder than diamond. It is also the only known perfect conductor (has zero electrical resistance and constant magnetic flux) and has the same thermal resistance as Cydonium (once known as the alien alloy during the Ethereal War).

However, when it is exposed to psion, it enters its active state. In this state, psionite loses its perfect conductivity of electricity but it instead gains a number of properties. Its most unique (and important) property is that it becomes a perfect conductor of psion and it is the only known material capable of storing psion indefinitely. Furthermore,psionite gains a drastic increase in thermal resistance, hardiness and even total strength (compressive, tensile and shear). However, the increase is dependent on the amount of psion it is storing. The Ethereal Device recovered during the Ethereal War are immune to almost every kind of conventional attack. It even has survived a small singularity generated by mass effects and gravity wave generators without any damage. However, psionite is weak against psionic attacks that are intended to harm it and it is extremely vulnerable when it is inert. It can even change shape according to the intention of the psionic will channeled to it.

What is perhaps the strangest property of psionite is that despite being a solid object, psionite has no observable atoms. Even in its active state, observing psionite under microscope will only show psion energy.

Despite its amazing properties, psionite application outside the field of psionics is extremely limited. This is because only extremely skilled and dedicated Psikers can make psionite. Quality, quantity and shape depends entirely on the Psiker and this makes psionite to be rare and expensive. Furthermore, because of its psion-dependent nature, psionite is not used for non-psionic technologies.

In the field of psionic, psionite has near limitless application and is used in almost everything from communication, weapon, armor, locomotion and more. For example, because psion can transmit thought and memories and psionite can store psion, it can act as a recorder. Also, shaped psionite in the form of blade and channeled with psion can cut through almost everything.

Author's Note: * Mordern MECs resemble Geth Prime in build and height.

** The Warmage attire is similar to Tron Legacy's Rinzler except that Warmage have the tailcoat.

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