Resurgence of Man

Chapter 1: Timeline

1962: The Zudjari War is officially over with humanity coming out on top. Some Zudjari technology was recovered. Technology gained in the war: Plasma and laser technology, electric manipulation, microwave weapons, psionics.

1963: John F. Kennedy calls for an international summit to address the recent alien invasion. World leaders are mortified at the thought of hostile extraterrestrials. All agree to sign the Mutual Defense Treaty. The bureau is renamed the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit, or XCOM for short. It will be mankind's first and last line of defense against alien menaces, tasked by Humanity's brightest and backed by the funding of all countries covered by said Treaty. XCOM headquarters begins construction in Egypt. XCOM R&D focusing on fully understanding the concepts behind alien technology. It is agreed to keep the public in the dark about the recent crisis to prevent mass panic and other problems it would cause.

1965: Secret psionic testing disguised as hospital checkups reveals that the entire human race is psychic, but most are dormant. XCOM R&D covertly begins to draft in volunteers for aid in the development of new fields of psychic and experimental warfare.

1967: Two years of hard work has bore many fruits. Psychic powers are now classed into two main categories. The Matter & Energy branch is all about changing the physical realm through a combination of altering the variables of matter and energy in said realm while the domain of powers under the mind banner includes those that can affect other's thoughts, emotions. The conveyance of thoughts without speaking and wrenching control from other organisms. It is concluded that psionics is the result of the human mind interacting with the universe at a fundamental level. In order to better understand the latent power, theoretical physicists working on theories such as string theory, M-theory and the likes are recruited.

1969: A breakthrough is made by XCOM R&D in genetic engineering. Human DNA is found to be sensitive to vibrations. This opened up whole new possibilities for gene modifications. Careful mapping of the Human genome begins. Knowledge gained from further research into psionics has created a new domain of psychic powers aptly named reality. While only the most gifted psi may have a silver of hope of mastering reality, those who do are granted the authority to make the universe his or her play toy. Users of this field can casually alter the laws of physics, bend space-time and even create anomalies such as black and white holes.

1970: XCOM base functional. Cloning technology reverse engineered from the Zudjari is perfected. Clones are now fully functional and have their own unique personalities not unlike their originals. Direct cloning is banned due to ethical reasons, though restrictions will be removed if the situation ever becomes too dire. As a result of the new implementation, clones need to have their genetic templates altered so they are different from the original and each other.

1973: Human genome mapping complete. Scientists are dazzled by the problems and potential applications caused by the 90% of so called "junk DNA" in charge of protein production, they allow the formation of dangerous cancer cells and other diseases, while they also contain genes which would grant a person extended health, immunity to certain diseases and otherwise. Deeper research into optimizing DNA is instigated.

1976: "Sentinel" satellite system up and running, it will serve as humanity's early warning against any invasion from space and should extraterrestrials land on Earth, provide strategic and tactical information to XCOM HQ. Project Genesis is born. It is an initiative to improve the human condition through careful genetic alteration and removal of a specific strand of human DNA that limits the ability of the human DNA to recombine and evolve. Mice and pigs are chosen as test subjects for the testing phase due to their inherent genetic similarities to humans.

1985: Project Genesis has completed its prototype testing phase. Out of the 100 mice used, 96 survived. As a result of the success, the mices' physical and mental parameters have been pushed as far as 20 to 30 times the original threshold. Selection of human candidates have begun for the main project. It is expected to take no less than 10 years to complete.

January 23, 2000: Subjects have been picked, augmentation process has begun for Project Rebirth

January 29, 2000: Only 1268 of the 2500 subjects have survived "rebirth". The results were much worse than anticipated. Apparently the method of genetic alteration caused a chain reaction to all male subjects which led to them dying. However, the surviving female subjects are reporting a marked increase of 45-65 times of strength, the ability to see 1.5-3.6 miles away, have reported night vision while also being able to hear the vibrations of particles in the air. All subjects are now biologically immortal, with IQ ranging from 500-1000. Psionic potential increased by a factor of 10 along with photographic memory for all subjects. Skin, cell structure, musculature and skeletal structure are heavily reinforced, subjects now impervious to most conventional weapons as well as other forms of energy. Only highly concentrated or monstrous levels of energy can harm an "awakened" human. Libido has also increased by a factor of 14-17 and all subjects now have bodies of goddesses. However, an interesting point of deviation from the human and mice and pig subjects are that while all subjects were enhanced greatly beyond original parameters, the augmented human DNA constantly recombines, adds and deletes its own parts to optimize the individual's chance of survival in his or her current environment. This fact has also been shown when after a month of intense survival, virtual reality and live training, subjects had a reported increase of 250%-300% in terms of total body strength. Subjects continue to undergo harsh training to prepare themselves to defend humanity.

May 23, 2013: Class 20 psionic pulse detected, origins are traced to a 14 year old boy named Jonathan. Surveillance reports above average physical and mental capabilities coupled with strong clairvoyance. With the refined formula for Project Rebirth, the council of nations gives XCOM the greenlight for the kidnapping and indoctrination of the boy. The boy is kidnapped within the day and undergoes augmentation procedures. He is then put into a virtual reality simulation to hone his skills with gargantuan natural disasters and programmed versions of his fellow awakened hunting him.

August 26th, 2015: An alien fleet arrived in Earth's orbit. Without warning they destroyed the Sentinel satellite system and begun probing and abduction attacks. Due to having nearly a century to prepare, XCOM retaliates in force and the early alien waves were successfully neutralized with non-existent casualties in the human forces. Extraterrestrial forces respond in kind as battles rage across the planet. Jonathan is awakened from virtual reality, his body already adjusted not for war, but for survival. He is brought up to speed on the current situation. Although disgusted by XCOM's means of defending humanity, he agrees to help. Jonathan is then put through an advanced combat simulation, breaking every record. Due to his beyond impressive scores and the troubles that will come with him integrating in a team, he is dispatched as a one man cell.

July 15th, 2016: Technology advanced, XCOM advanced, humanity advanced. Despite all efforts however, humanity was being slowly pushed back with XCOM left as the primary military left in the world. A plan was devised during autumn 2016 that would turn the tables of war in our favor. Operation Unruly Tempest consisted of two parts, building a human battle fleet to act as a diversion while a prototype cannon based on Nikola Tesla's Teleforce codenamed "Excalibur" would be brought onto the invaders. The then unknown orchestrators of the war, the Ethereals, taken notice of the combat prowess of the awakened humans, have begun to systematically terminate them. As their numbers dwindle, the ground front is pushed back even faster. Jonathan is made Sigma Squad's leader. Said squad's detrimental contributions have caused them to become war heroes, bolstering the morale of XCOM forces wherever they go.

September 28th, 2019: On September 28th, 2019, disaster struck as the Ethereals unleashed their ultimate weapon of war, a 900km long, 400km wide mothership. It opened fire with its main weapon at Antarctica, flash vaporizing the continent and melting through the Earth. Hyperwave decoders would later learn of the chilling fact that the main cannon had only been set to 4% power. Fear of imminent extinction courses through the human race as the construction on the battle fleet accelerates. "Excalibur" is also hastily readapted to incorporate a second firing mode, one capable of piercing the mothership's shields. Resources were reallocated to building a functional teleporter so XCOM forces can board the mothership once it's shields are down.

January 18th-20th, 2022: On January 18th, 2022, human forces engage the Ethereal Fleet in orbit as "Excalibur" bears it's might on the alien mothership. It's protective barriers are quickly brought down, enabling human defenders to swiftly board the craft. While initially large swaths of the battlefield was brought under human control by a combination of Blitzkrieg and Shock and Awe tactics, after a day it quickly results in a stalemate as both sides fortify their own positions, unwilling to cross the no-man's land. That changed when the Uber Ethereal, accompanied by his High Council, stepped foot on the battlefield. Through a myriad of psionic powers, the battlefield shifted completely in the ship defender's favor as human casualties rise sharply while loosing ground rapidly. Even though the onslaught is eventually stopped, the remaining XCOM forces number only in the mere thousands, a drop in the bucket compared to the mere millions that comprised of the original boarding party. With morale at an all time low, it was only through Jonathan's charismatic speech that spurred the human troops to fight harder. The boarders then pierce through the alien ranks, with what little remains of the reawakened at the tip of the spear, with regular human troops falling behind, buying time with their lives. After a long and arduous battle, the Uber Ethereal along with his High Council are finally slain. The ship and alien forces both planetside and in space, becomes passive as the psionic compulsion that controlled them is no more. January 20th, 2022 is forever marked as the day of victory for the Second Alien War, with casualties going up to about 3.5 billion humans and trillions of dollars of property damage. Science and engineering teams move into the Mothership and begins research in it's databanks and systems.

January 22nd, 2022: After a day of celebrations, the council of nations has decided to band together to form the Earth Republic, with XCOM becoming the official worldwide military. Reconstruction begins and is expected to take only a few months due to improved alien and human nanotech. Preliminary studies on the Alien Mothership has revealed that the Ethereals were a dying race, and that the Mothership was their last bastion. Humans worldwide heave a sigh as the perturbing notion of a third alien war is put on the backburner for now.

August 5th, 2022: With humanity back on the road to recovery, everything seems to be getting better. However, a recovered intelligence package might just break that fragile peace…

A/N: Hi guys, first of all thank you for reading this story. By doing so you have already encouraged me a great deal as I'm a new writer and this is my first story. Anyways this story will be about mankind's reclamation to the stars. The base of the story is XCOM AU but it will be crossovered with many other universes, the first of which is Highschool DxD. The aim of the story is to show the adaptability and pragmatism of the human race, as we will rack our brains, go to unforeseen heights and scoop to unimaginable depths just to ensure our species' survival. The reawakened humans, aside from serving as a pool of candidates of potential romances for my protagonist, will serve as a examples of the human race's adaptability, as they can rapidly evolve to counter any threat. As you can see I have given psionics a huge buff. However, I personally do not think of this as a buff but rather as a revamp. While I am happy about the psionics system in XCOM and XCOM 2 where they added a huge number of powers, I feel that psionic powers in the games have always been limited. When I think about the mind, I feel that the only limitation is our imagination. So yes, psionics will be much more powerful in this fanfic. Also, indiscriminate killings will happen in this fanfic, this is XCOM after all. So important characters, like say Rias, might die in a war against XCOM or someone from XCOM will die on a mission. It's all a coin toss, it's all a maybe. So thank you and pls give feedback!:)