Part 23: The Faceplate of the Enemy

Part 23: The Faceplate of the Enemy



No way. I don’t have the same face, skin, hair, voice or SEX I had before, you couldn’t possibly recognize me.
Kid, I’m your mom, I could pick you out of a crowd in a text-only chat room. I know your every twitch. So, what happened?
Switched bodies with a friend of mine, who died. But I got superpowers out of it.
Huh. That’s… huh. Well, your legs are a lot less stumpy now.
Yeah, they—HEY!
You better take good fucking care of that body, you hear me, Cameron? I will personally oversee every IOTA of your physical training from now on.
Moooom!
Don’t you “Mom” me! I brought you into this world, and I can take you OUT!
Oh, God… Someone shoot me where it won’t grow back…



We now have finished the last of our laser weapons, Commander. We’ll need much more staff to begin reverse-engineering the plasma weaponry, but at least now we can begin.
Excellent. I’m sure our snipers will love the improved killing power. And…is that a laser SHOTGUN?
Oh, man, I have got to get me one of those.
Not without my permission first, buster! You want to blow your face off testing experimental weapons in the field?
…good point. You take the first one, Mom.



It’s time to finish our research on that shard, see if it can lead us to the alien’s nest.
Commander! COMMANDER! Priority transmission from the council!



What the FUCK? Panic in China? We had China locked down!
Something’s up over there, someone caused a kind of… controlled weather disaster. A laser shot into the sky and a typhoon appeared out of nowhere.
The aliens have a weather controller?
Not quite, XCOM.
Who the hell are YOU?



Greetings, XCOM. I am the Director, and soon to be the new face of the future. Your attempts at maintaining the status quo are doomed. With the gift of technology pilfered from the heavens themselves, a new humanity, stronger in body and purer of will, shall emerge. We… are EXALT.
I don’t know this one…
Exalt Director. What do you want? Money? Power?
All that and more. Understand this, XCOM: You are doomed to failure, because you serve the whims of petty governments and self-centered idiots with large purse strings. We serve none but ourselves, and do as we please. Even now, China is considering dropping your funding because of your inability to deal with us. I suggest you disarm immediately and allow us to shape the future of the world. Goodbye, FOOLS! Ah-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAHA! HAIL EXALT!



…what…the…FUCK?
This is worse than I imagined. A terrorist organization taking control of alien technology.



Commander… we must rely upon you… to eliminate this threat. Your directive to preserve all human life has been… rescinded.
Of course, councilman… right. We’ll need help, we’re better at shooting down UFOs than doing ground work.
We are capable of assisting your investigation, to a degree…but it is your operatives who must carry out the… wetwork.



Sir, I volunteer. I’m less high-profile than our team leaders and I’m trained on using a side-arm.
Good idea, Dr. Gomez.



I wish I could send Hilda out on this mission, with her invisibility she’d be the perfect spy, but she’s still melding. Shit. Next time, I guess. Good luck, Gomez!
Thank you, sir!



So on top of blowing up aliens who want to steal human bodies, we have to stop a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world?
Badass. Looks like I joined at the right time. It’s like the eighties all over again!

To Be Continued!