(Vance – ADVENT Blacksite)

I was just drifting off to sleep, when a loud explosion ripped through the compound. Lights started flashing, sirens blared, one moment peace, the next, chaos. I scrambled out of my bed, and hastily put my armour on. I grabbed my Bolt Caster and the sheath of the metal Bolts, and ran out of my quarters. The Matriarch, Ne'vira and the two standards were waiting just inside the building.

"What the hell is going on?!" I demanded.

"XCOM… they destroyed the Barracks and the Armoury… there aren't many soldiers left" One of the standards hissed, firing a shot of plasma out of the door.

"Brilliant… come on, we're sitting ducks in here!" I said, dashing out of the door.

I moved to a turned over forklift, and used it as low cover. I poked my head over, and counted seven XCOM units. I ducked, as multiple Mag rounds whizzed over me.

(Malissa – ADVENT Blacksite)

I fired my Mag rifle at that human/Viper creature. I missed and hit the wall behind it.

"Damn it!" I cursed.

"Don't worry kid… most recruits, or scouts, don't hit much on their first few fire missions" Pyro, our Grenadier who loves Fire Bombs and Dragon Rounds, said, firing at a MEC unit.

{You two, shut it, and paint me a target!} Bullseye, our Sharpshooter, called in.

"Ahh don't get ya knickers in a bunch, I'll paint ya a target" Scottie, his nickname, who was from Scotland, said, firing a paintball at a Viper.

The paintball emits an electronic signal, that Bullseye can pick up on. She fired at the Viper, and gave it's brain some air. Bullseye developed the paint in her own time, to use instead of Night-vision or Infrared, but of course, they also have they're disadvantages.

"Launching Plasma!" Boomer, our second Grenadier, announced. Must I even explain his nickname?

It exploded, sending a second standard Viper flying, along with a few ADVENT Troopers.

I fired some more rounds, and actually killed an Officer.

"So getting a promotion after this!" I said.

"Yeah Yeah… don't get a – WHAT THE FUCK!" Gemma, another Rookie, yelled, as a tongue wrapped around her.

I watched as she was pulled to the Viper… no, it's the Viper hybrid that snagged her, and pulled her to it. We watched, in horror, as it grabbed her throat. We saw her struggling and heard her yelling, before she went still and silent. The Viper hybrid discarded her body, and we saw her head twist unnaturally, blood trickling from her mouth.

{HOLY SHIT!} Bullseye yelled, through the Coms.

(Vance)

This has been fun, but it's time to end this. I launched my tongue at the closest XCOM soldiers, and grabbed her. I pulled her to me, and grabbed her throat, this time, with the intention of killing the person.

"LET… [GASP]… GO!" The XCOM soldier gasped, trying to get out of my grasp.

My grip tightened, and she struggled more.

"PLEASE… [GASP]… LET… ME… GO!"

My grip continued tightening, until she struggled no more. I cast her body aside, and aimed my Bolt Caster at another soldier. I pulled the trigger, and the bolt ripped through the armour of one of their soldiers. I heard them scream, and, dead or alive, they're of no threat to me anymore. I aimed at another.

(Malissa)

The Viper hybrid fired metal bolt at Pyro, and the bolt went straight through his Predator armour.

"AHHH… FUCK FUCK FUCK… AHHH…" Pyro screamed, as Scottie sent his GREMLIN to heal him.

I started panicking and fired the rest of my ammo at the Viper hybrid, which made a few holes in the armour, and made him flinch.

The Viper Matriarch appeared out of nowhere, and spat poison at me.

"Scottie… [COUGH COUGH]… I need a… [COUGH]… medkit" I spluttered.

"I'm out" Scottie said.

"Recon… [COUGH]… one to Central… [COUGH]… request evac" I radioed to Central.

{Casualties}

"Gemma is KIA, Myself… [COUGH]… and Pyro are wounded, Bullseye and Scottie are fine, but… [COUGH]… I've lost sight of the other three…" I said, before seeing the building they went into, explode.

I tried to contact them, but only heard static.

"The other three are… [COUGH]… MIA presumed KIA"

{Copy that, sending Firebrand}

Not two minutes later, we heard the Skyranger's engines, and it lowered the ropes.

(Vance)

I watched as their craft escaped, I could do nothing to stop them.

"What's the damage?" I asked the Matriarch.

"Three buildings destroyed, two standards dead, Major Draco is severely wounded, but the main buildings are intact… if you're worried about the captured humans, they're perfectly fine" The Matriarch reported.

"Perfect… they mean well, but could've done more harm than good" I replied, heading to Ne'vira, who was cowering behind a large pillar.

"Ne'vira, they're gone now, you don't need to hide anymore" I said, softly.

Her entire body relaxed, anymore relaxed, and she'd be on the floor. She followed me back to the Matriarch.

"Ne'vira, go and rest, you need it" The Matriarch said, and Ne'vira left us, heading to her temporary quarters.

"She is too young for this kind of battle" I said.

We saw the Major walking up to us, apparently his wounds not as severe as the Matriarch thought. He walked right by us, cursing and complaining about XCOM or something. He was limping, badly, and clutching his right shoulder, which was bleeding heavily.

I went into the main building, to find Dr. Diad already preparing the first subject, even though there was an attack.

"You put a lot of faith in the soldiers" I said.

"Hierarch, even if XCOM did get to this point, they'd get no further. There are turrets outside, which are activated during an attack, and there are enough of them, that XCOM wouldn't get away unscathed" Dr. Diad replied, continuing preparations.

"You said six months… I expect this one in six months, or less! The less she has to suffer, the better!" I commanded, before turning and leaving.

I went to my temporary quarters, and quickly fell asleep, without realising there was a few holes in my armour, or that I was still wearing my armour.

(Matriarch)

I was about to enter my quarters, when Dr. Diad ran up to me.

"Matriarch!"

"Yes, doctor"

"To make sure that this isn't a mistake, I need to know, has he mated yet?"

I felt the colour drain, a bit, from my scales. "Y-Yes" I replied, a little embarrassed by the question.

"Whichever Viper it is, I need you to send them here, ASAP!"

"You're looking at them" I, unintentionally, snapped.

"Shit! That means I can't keep you here… just send me an update if it begins to show!"

"Why? It won't matter till they hatch" I stated, confused.

"If the eggs begin growing, then he's fertile… and that's all I need to know" She said, dashing off, back to her lab.

I slithered into my quarters, and removed most of my armour. I left a few of the more fiddly parts on, just in case they try and catch us off guard. As for the conversation me and Dr. Diad had, is that the 'real' reason she brought us here. Also, I'm exhausted, and she's still running around, like she has all the energy in the world. Humans still confuse me, and our Hierarch is, rather, was one, yet human nature puzzles him, as much as it puzzles me.

(Early next Morning)

I woke up, for no apparent reason. Got up and put the rest of my armour on, I'll clean up at the Nest, and headed to the mess hall. To no surprise, it was fairly empty, asides from a few surviving troops, the Hierarch and Ne'vira, a couple Vipers stationed here, and three Sectoids. The Hierarch must've already eaten, since he was just staring at an empty tray.

"Something wrong" I asked, coiling in the seat opposite him.

"Other than getting very little sleep last night, I'm fine… not too sure about Ne'vira though" The Hierarch said, looking at Ne'vira, who was coiled extremely tightly.

"We'll be out of here soon enough" I said.

"But we will be back within the next six months, when the first one is ready" The Hierarch said, a hint of sadness in his voice.

Once we'd finished, we boarded our transport.

(Vance)

"Mother, where are we going?"

"We're heading to a specialised clinic…" She paused for a moment. "Where I want you to work in the future" She replied with a smile.

"I've told you before mother, I don't want to work at the clinics…"

"Well, you should, your science and mathematics grades are perfect, you're an intelligent lad… we won't be having this conversation again"

I was woken with a start, and saw the Matriarch, gently shaking me.

"We'll be back at the Nest shortly… is everything alright? You're sleep seemed restless" The Matriarch said.

"I'm… I'm fine… just a memory I'd rather not talk about" I replied, getting out of my seat, and stretching, in many ways that should be physically impossible, for a human.

It was at this point, that the Matriarch noticed the three bullet holes in my armour.

"Hierarch, we must get you cleaned up"

"Yes, I should also get my armour fixed up" I said, noticing the three holes in my armour.

I looked around, and saw Ne'vira coiled up, and asleep, on one of the seats.

"I've noticed Ne'vira is 'different'. The colour that is showing through is similar to your colours, except white under scales, instead of black… what's the story behind her?" I asked.

"She is my daughter, my biological daughter. She is twelve summers old, this is why her colour is just beginning to show, I myself am only twenty – five summers. We reach maturity at thirteen. This is why there are so many similarities, between myself and Ne'vira" The Matriarch explained.

We felt the craft slow, and land which woke Ne'vira. We got off the craft, and a few Vipers came up to us.

"Matriarch…" One said, looking over the Matriarch. "What happened?"

"An XCOM attack, though we did manage to fight them off" The Matriarch replied, rubbing, what I assume to be, her temple.

I continued onward, towards the ramps. I stopped at the Armoury to return my Bolt Caster, then continued down to my quarters. If XCOM or the Resistance chose to act upon the tracking beacon they placed in Ne'vira, then, well, I'd probably end up dead, I'm still exhausted from last nights encounter. I removed my armour, and placed it on the stand. I'll get it fixed later, but for now, I just need to rest.

(Three months later)

So far, nothing interesting has happened… except getting forced into mating with multiple Vipers… now, unlike when I mated with the Matriarch, it wasn't as enjoyable for me, since they would catch me when I had my back turned, or they would leap out from the shadows. Oh and speaking of the Matriarch and mating, she is pregnant… so that means I am fertile… lucky me. The Elders have started trying to kill me off, by sending to be places where there was heavy resistance activity, not working. They also aren't happy about Dr. Diad making more like myself, but they won't touch her, because she is well respected amongst multiple species, and even though clones are programmed, that programming can be overwritten, with the right command, which Diad has.

I had just finished a painful conversation with the Elders, however there is one who disagrees heavily with the Elders, and several times during the conversation they face palmed, behind the others backs of course. They also seemed different to the others, but I can't quite place my finger, or claw rather, on it.

Anyway I was on my way back to my quarters, in a particularly foul mood might I add, when one of the Vipers, a soldier, no civilian Vipers ever try's, tried to jump me. I had no interest, well, I never have much interest in being forced into mating, but today, I seriously wasn't having any of it. I swung around so quickly, she had no time to react. I hit her square in the chest, and sent her, writhing in agony, to the floor. This will discourage her from trying again, but the others will try new methods. A small crowd gathered around her, as I continued walking across the city. When I was going up the ramps, another Viper, probably a friend or something of the Viper I hit, came out of the corridor on the seventeenth floor, I think, and attempted to bind. But she didn't have the intention of mating, no, I saw something else in her… Revenge! I hurt her friend/sister, as I've heard them call each other, they hurt me.

Glad I'm so flexible, as, by dislocating my bones, I escaped her grasp. I quickly got behind her, and remembered a spot on the back of their necks, which I found be sheer accident about a month ago, whilst helping Ne'vira, which causes them to pass out, for a couple of minutes, if enough pressure is applied. I pressed it, and her eyes widened for a second, before closing. I continued to my quarters, and there were no Vipers waiting for me. Still wondering how the Viper, who bound me just then, knew about the Viper I hit.

I removed head piece, and put it on the stand. I rubbed the sides of my head, thinking on the events that had just transpired. That is, until I was interrupted by knocking.

"Who's there?" I called out.

The door opened, revealing the Matriarch, whose stomach was larger.

"If you've come to lecture me on what happened, then don't bother, I've had enough lecture from the bloody Elders!" I said, before she had a chance to.

"I didn't come to lecture you, I came to ask why?" She said.

"As you can probably already guess, I don't like being forced into mating, however I knew it was going to be like that. The way they do it, doesn't help much either. Anyway, after having a very unintelligent conversation with the Elders, I was an extremely foul mood, and I didn't think before I acted, I acted on impulse. Then, another Viper, bound me on floor seventeen, to which, I used that pressure point to render her unconscious, after dislocating all my bones to break free" I explained, bitterly.

I didn't deliberately aim my bitterness at the Matriarch, but I my words were bitter, and I saw a look of hurt appear on her face.

"I… see… I'll leave you alone for now" She said, leaving.

Arrrggghhh… why was I like that? I need to go let off some steam.

I went to the training room, on floor ten. I used the dummies for target practice, and, after a while, decided to attempt to use my Psionic abilities, though I'd never tried, the Matriarch had told me I needed to focus. So, I did focus, and attempted to open a Rift, to the other side of the room.

I was attempting to open a rift, when there was a knocking at the door, and I lost my focus.

"Who is it!?" I demanded.

The door opened, revealing Ne'vira.

"Hierarch, the Matriarch has requested your presence in the hanger!" She said.

"What? Why?"

"It's best if you see for yourself" She said, leaving.

I followed her closely, to see the Matriarch, and a small group of about six Vipers, standing around something. When I got close, it what I saw, wasn't at all what I was expecting.

Dr. Diad was finished.

It was the female Viper hybrid.

Dr. Diad herself, looked pretty amusing. She had dark black circles under her eyes, and her skin looked grey. She also had a claw mark on her face.

I walked up to the newcomer, completely ignoring Dr. Diad, as one of her guards, ushered her back onto the ship.

"Your name" I said.

"M-Maria" She said nervously.

I turned to the Matriarch.

"Do we have any quarters ready for her?"

"We do"

"Good"

I turned back to Maria.

"Would you kindly follow me" I said, walking to the ramps, the Matriarch by my side.

I whispered to the Matriarch. "I apologise for earlier… I wasn't myself"

"What's done is done… I shouldn't have inquired about it so soon" She replied.

I looked back at Maria, and took a good look at her this time. She was slender, compared to me, she had jet black scales, with grey under scales, and emerald green eyes.

We continued down, to floor fourteen, and, sure enough, there were five doors. The Matriarch showed us to the furthest door from the ramps.

"Maria, remember this floor, and your room's location" I said.

"Wh-What are you going to do with me?" She asked, terror in her eyes.

"Frankly… I don't know… though, it would be best if you had an escort…" I said, thinking for a second. "Matriarch… where would Ne'vira be at this moment?"

"I'll bring her to us" She said, leaving.

I opened Maria's room. I had a looked at it. It wasn't as spacious as mine, but it would serve its purpose just fine. At this moment, the Matriarch returned, Ne'vira by her side.

"Ne'vira, I want you to be our guests escort, keep her out of trouble" I said, sternly, but softly.

"Yes Hierarch" She nodded.

"Good… and Maria, make sure Ne'vira is with you, wherever you go… it's not that I don't trust you, I don't want the other Vipers attacking you… out of jealousy, most likely. The soldiers, the civilians won't attack you, seeing you with me, won't end well for either of us" I said.

"Where will I find her?" Maria asked.

"The other end of this floor" Ne'vira said.

"The Matriarch and Ne'vira will answer any questions you may have" I said, turning, and heading for the training floor.

"And where are you going?" The Matriarch asked.

"To let off steam!"