It's All Connected? (XCOM)

(Vote only after you have read) What are your feelings on this idea?


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DarkGemini24601

Well-Known Member
I had an idea to connect the lore of ChristopherOdd's roleplays and the new generation of XCOM roleplays in a small way. Ultimately, it doesn't affect the story that much (aside from minor tweaks I make to the Chris stories to make them fit, and any minor references that might be made in future stories to past ones that are 'technically' canon to the new stories if this idea works).

Gem: To explain, let's look at some timelines with notes.

It's All Connected (1).png


Item 1 – Season 1’s universe of ChristopherOdd’s roleplays. A world without the supernatural except for one thing: psionics. Humans are unaware of this, but among the stars a race known as the Ethereal Ones managed to learn this mysterious mental power. It gave them the strength to mentally dominate foes in a number of ways, and even warp reality itself. However, it came at the cost of their physical health. However, only about 5% of the population reached this higher level. The rest feared what their brethren had become and tried to wipe them out, but the psionic Ethereal Ones fought back, and wiped them out in a war that devastated their homeworld.

With nothing left for them on their home planet, the Ethereal Ones took to the stars, seeking a way to perfect themselves utterly in mind and body, and ‘Ascend’ to a higher level of existence. To this end, they brought other races they encountered into the fold, ever-seeking a way to perfect themselves. Finally, after mastering the mental aspect of ascendance, they found the corporal half of their goal in humanity. Such bodies could sustain their powerful minds, but their leader realized that it would take trials and tribulations to craft perfect hosts.

And thus the war began. An organization known as XCOM had been founded years prior under the fear that Earth may one day encounter hostile aliens, should they exist. XCOM fought back against the alien attacks as they intensified, rapidly becoming the spearhead of the human defense. Ultimately, they discovered psionics, and one in particular, Grelite, became extraordinarily powerful. Excited by this promising subject, but worried that XCOM had taken down one of the Ethereal Overseer craft, the ancient mothership came to Earth.

XCOM took the fight to the Temple Ship, battling their way to the bridge. The Uber Ethereal believed himself able to beat them back and use Grelite and the other promising human test subjects, but underestimated them. He was killed, and Grelite stopped the Temple Ship from exploding into a black hole, which would have destroyed Earth.

Item 2 – Barely surviving, Grelite was vulnerable, and the wavering mind of the Uber Ethereal used this, merging with the host and taking over the body as Grelite passed away. It had no more need for Earth, letting them revel in their victory, and merely lay adrift in the stars, basking in its power, and multiplying it exponentially. After a month it realized its foolishness: as an Ascended Being, it was TOO powerful. Its power consumed the universe as it was known, and destroyed it utterly in psionic entropy.

However, this was not the end of reality. Rather, all of that power lead to the births of two new universes, parallel to each other in space and time. Two separate stories emerged in the form of Earth A1 and Earth B1.

***​

Item 3 – ChristopherOdd Season 2. Earth A1 resembled the original timeline in many ways. Psionic abilities were not as dangerously powerful, however, even if ascendance would give birth to a being with the power of a pagan God, if not more. However, the supernatural could also be found, though it typically escaped the grasp of normal people. It gave birth to a Jiangshi like Ayame Kasagi. The Ethereal Ones origins were somewhat similar, save for the fact that they all become powerful in psionics, and many died as a result of body atrophy, those that survived taking to the stars and seeking out ways to bolster their ranks in search of races they could mold to perfection and use their DNA to perfect themselves.

XCOM was founded in the same manner as Season 1. And when the aliens came, they fought back admirably. Ayame Kasagi, along with Anna Stone, Richard Foulke, Aribeth Dusk, Sean Scruffson, Nukey, Trevor Conan, Presariov Astaeri, Alex Van Dam, and others fought to defend Earth…

Item 4 - But they were not strong enough to win the fight. Eventually, they were overwhelmed, and out of the names listed, only Anna Stone and Ayame Kasagi managed to endure. They formed a resistance out of the ashes as the Ethereals began to take over, seeming disappointed and thus not realizing the potential in the humans. Ultimately, they decided on wiping out humanity, but not before Commander Anna Stone managed to create a device that would reset time.

Item 5 – The Resistance committed to this endeavor, even if it meant the end of everything they knew. The device was activated as the Ethereals nearly finished wiping out all of mankind, and reset time to the very beginning of the universe!

***​

Item 6 – XCOM: Story of Defiance. Earth B1 was a very different world/timeline/universe from A1. The supernatural was practically nonexistent, although psionics came in the form of 6 different colors with different attributes and abilities. The Ethereals had damaged their homeworld in a nuclear war, but ultimately became psionically adept at the cost of their physical health, and begun to expand their empire to the stars in search of a way to repair their withered bodies. Humankind had yet to discover this power, but in history the occasional ‘natural’ had awakened and become legend. However, no one really believed in 2018 that such people had ever had special powers, like King Arthur’s Pyro-Conjuring that he applied to his sword.

However, XCOM was founded when, about 50 years ago, an alien scout ship crashed into the Gobi Desert, sparking fear in world leaders even as they covered it up. Fifty years later, these fears proved true when the Ethereal Subjugation War began. Commander Morrigan O’Brien stepped up to the plate to combat this extraterrestrial threat, assisted by soldiers such as Atka Ipiktok, Modya Dragomirov, Ayame Kasagi (later on), Ammelia Cross, Mary Thomas, Desmond Walker, Eva Aegerter, Ashley Van Dam, Albert Foulke, Fay Anderson, Amelia “Emily” Fischer, and the mysterious Overseer. Interestingly, people from Earth A1 had counterparts in this world, although Ayame was no Jiangshi, Richard Foulke (Albert’s brother) died at the onset of the war, and Anna Stone lived a fairly quiet life.

For a time it seemed as if XCOM could win as they fought back and ultimately defeated all seven of the Earthbound Ethereal Overseers. With the help of the Exalt family, which had been betrayed by Viktor Dorian but ultimately eradicated the organization known as EXALT that tarnished their name, things seemed to be looking up. Then, the Ethereal Homeworld of Aetherum was made uninhabitable by the actions of a Muton named Conquest, and the Temple Ship set a course for Earth with the survivors. An advance fleet targeted the known location of the XCOM base in Siberia, and annihilated it and most of everyone there.

Item 7 – Some survived, though. Atka Ipiktok became the commander of what remained of XCOM, leading survivors like Brigid O’Brien (Morrigan’s daughter), the Ethereal Overseer Aergian, Sasha and Mikhail Dragomirov (the sons of Modya and Jessica Lockheart), and the heir to the Exalt family name, Vindicta Exalt.

Item 8 - They managed a desperate bid in a world that the Ethereals had made their own: to spite the ‘Decelsions’ and give their world a chance at a future, they send a message back in time to warn XCOM of the bombardment!
 

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DarkGemini24601

Well-Known Member
Gem: In both timelines, XCOM loses, but manages to give itself a second chance. The stories of Earth A1 and Earth B2 don't end here!

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Item 9 – Because the timeline was reset completely, the world changed drastically. The supernatural ceased to be much of a factor at all, though the motives of the Ethereals remained largely the same, as did the nature of psionics.

Item 10 – Allow me to just… copypaste Chris’s basic scenario.

ChristopherOdd said:
The Time Line

1947 - An alien probe arrives in the Solar System. It arrives on Earth by July, scanning the surface from space for a few days before sending out a go-signal and crash landing on July 7th in Roswell, New Mexico in the United States. Its remnants are recovered by the US government and the event is covered up. Civilians are unaware of this occurrence.
2014 - An alien scout arrives on Earth and sets up an alien base in a remote location. It goes unnoticed and the scout calls for the rest of the fleet once the base is set up.
2015 - The fleet arrives in the Solar System, its advanced cloaking technology hiding it from being detected. On March 1st the first of the alien strikes is ordered in a civilian centre. The local military team sent in to investigate went silent. The XCOM Project is launched as one of the protocols set for these situations. Commanding this Project is Commander Odd and the project is financed by the Global Council. While an underground base is prepared, a squad of four XCOM soldiers is sent to investigate the site.


The war begun in that manner. Certain people have been born at different dates, died at different dates, or ceased to exist at all. However, some familiar faces fought as soldiers in this second-chance XCOM. A namesake similar to the previous family name, Booker Conan. Another Van Dam, Axton. Presariov Astaeri. Ayame Kasagi, not a Jiangshi, but having met Anna Stone years prior and joining XCOM with her. And a host of new faces such as Anja Kjaer, the sisters Alexia and Jessica, Colin Weger, Leon Ensslin, Cyrus Hart, Persephone Brown, Joel Freeman, Zain Shah, and more, including Aaron Bryant.

The war was hard fought, and this time XCOM was determined not to lose, even if they never knew they had fought this battle once before. Under this incarnation of the Commander (all of them went by the codename “Odd”), they took it to the aliens. Many died along the way, such as Joel, but their sacrifices were not in vain. Aaron Bryant gained powerful psionic abilities, so far as to become a concept of ‘Ascension’, and the Ethereals coveted him. They again underestimated humanity, however, and Aaron slew their leader before sacrificing himself to save the Earth.

Item 11 – A final tragedy marked the end of the war as Anna Stone was dying, implanted with a Chryssalid that would tear her apart unless she was put down. Her dear friend, Ayame, regretfully did the deed, laying a woman that was instrumental in saving the world in a past life to rest. Not all of the victory was tainted, though. Ayame left XCOM with a new love in Persephone, saying goodbye to her tragic past for a brighter future that Aaron , Joel, Anna, and others had allowed her. Jessica carried the child of Earth’s savior, and her sister went off to live with Zain.

Earth expanded in its capabilities, eventually taking to the stars and colonizing other worlds to reduce population density, explore the vastness of space, and acquire the element called Elerium that was so vital to their new technology. However, their primary colony fell under attack by a new enemy, and it was up to the successor to XCOM, the United Earth Combat Unit (UECU) to put an end to this threat. (results pending)

***​

Item 12 – The Story of Defiance universe, by merit of only being reverted to the day in which the bombardment fleet would arrive, remained the same. Everything that had happened up until that day happened, but everything beyond was in the realm of the unknown.

Item 13 – Escaping in the battleship “Jupiter”, XCOM went to attack the Supra-Battleship controlled by the Honored Overseer, second in command to the Ethereal Commander. A hard battle was fought against the OH and his six human warriors, one for each color of psionics, but it was won, and the “Arkbird” fell into XCOM’s hands. With this much larger mobile base in their possession, the tides seemed turned.

Then the Ethereal Commander, Thantos'Mictlanmacaria (known to the humans as Phobos, the God of Fear), arrived in the Temple Ship with what remained of the Ethereal armada. A desperate battle ensued, as the two battleships and XCOM fighter squadrons sought to beat down the Temple Ship and its fleet enough to give the Arkbird entry. Along the way they even commandeered another Supra Battleship in the hangar of the ancient mothership itself to make this happen. Their entry gained, the ground forces fought their way to Phobos’s bridge.

Thanks to the actions of the Overseer’s “Tribe”, he could no longer channel the power of his people to be invincible. First he fought with six Reflections of the different colors, and then battle the twenty XCOM soldiers that made it to the bridge personally. With his Fear Aura, the battle was nearly lost, but after being weakened by the rest of the group, Phobos was vulnerable to a final blow from Atka Ipiktok that ended the war.

Item 14 – XCOM became the eXtra-Stellar Defense Force after that. Unlike Earth A1, Earth B1 was able to secure a lasting peace with the Ethereals and help restore their homeworld (whereas all the Ethereals were on the Temple Ship in A1) and restore the vassal races to some semblance of freedom. Expanding out into the galaxy, Earth made colonies and a name for itself, and sought elerium supplies. However, their primary mining colony of Forseti came under attack much like the UECU’s, and they were forced to defend it. (results pending)

***​

Item 15 – Finally, the two time distortions created splinter timelines. While there may be minor, undiscovered ones, off to the sides of Earth A1 and Earth B1, two of the splinters between A and B merged, becoming the timeline of an Earth C1. Some aspects of the A1 universe were transplanted, be they supernatural or related to persons of note, or something else. But the B1 universe seems to have had a stronger influence, particularly in regards to psionics, Ethereals, and history, and possible people, even if they were born at different times in some occasions.

Ultimately, however, this timeline took on the prospect that both of the time shifts had in common: defeat. The Ethereals won the war fairly early on against XCOM in a sudden vicious offensive, destroying their headquarters and pushing their few surviving members into hiding. They began creating megacities, upgrading their races with human DNA, and bringing humanity into the fold. In 2039, however, XCOM was to rise again, bringing guerilla tactics to the table in an attempt to shake the alien rule and uncover the crimes of their ADVENT government. (results pending)
 
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