Fanfic / XCOM: The Advent Directive

XCOM: The Advent Directive (FF.net; AO3) is the third story of Xabiar's XCOM: Enemy Unknown fanfic series. Like XCOM: The Hades Contingency and XCOM: The Atlas Protocol, it is (loosely) based on Enemy Within with XCOM: Long War content and several XCOM 2 elements.

In the wake of the Ravaged One's failed attack on the Citadel, and the subsequent alien invasion of Australia, the Commander of XCOM enacts the Demeter Contingency: the removal of the Council of Nations and the UN in favor of ADVENT, a new global coalition created to rally all of humanity against the invading alien force. Now, both XCOM and the nascent government are tasked with fighting off the massing forces of the Ethereal Collective, and bring all of Earth's nations under the ADVENT banner, as one singular force.

In a first for the series, Advent Directive has a series of supplemental documents and spin-offs:

• The XCOM Files (by Xabiar): A series of in-universe documentation expanding on the characters, organizations and events of the fic. (FF.net; AO3)
• XCOM Files Technical Addenda (by Ashardalon125): Similar to The XCOM Files, it is a series of in-universe documents focused on ADVENT's technological advancements, in a more academic tone. (FF.net; AO3)
• Chronicles of Salvation (by Edumesh): The religious doctrine and history of the being known as the Bringer of Paradise. (FF.net; AO3)
• XCOM: Pantheon Rising (by Areleh): Following the members of the Pantheon - ADVENT's anti-Ethereal task force - through the war against the Collective, shortly after the founding of ADVENT and the first battle in Japan. (FF.net; AO3)
• XCOM: New Blood (by OfficialWeedTesterGuy): Tells the story of 18-year old Dawn Conley, XCOM's first biopath. (FF.net; AO3)
• The Chronicle (by Zillian): Follows the story of the enigmatic Chronicler of EXALT, prior to the events of the trilogy. (FF.net; AO3)
• Worth Fighting For (by Arisentactica, HailToTheKing and Mooloor): The story of the historical figure known in the present day as King Arthur. (FF.net; AO3)
• XCOM: Promethean Memories (by various writers): A collection of one-shots set at various points in the wider story. (FF.net; AO3)

While originally intended to be a trilogy, the series is set to conclude in a fourth unnamed entry.

Note: This page contains unmarked spoilers for Hades Contingency and Atlas Protocol.

This story contains examples of the following:

• Abnormal Ammo: Some of the new weapons used by both humanity and the Collective during the course of the war feature some rather unusual ammunition:
  • The Stalkers of Paradise have access to psionic firearms. XCOM develops similar weapons in Act IV, complete with a psionic grenade.
  • As the Collective starts fielding more and more powerful troops, XCOM ends up developing some of the absolute worst offenders in response, such as chlorine trifluoride and fluoroantimonic acid rounds. The latter are coated in teflon specifically because it is the only material that it can't corrode.
• Adaptation Expansion: The story delves into the aliens' society much more than any of the games, with several prominent characters (POV or not) being aliens themselves.
• Adaptational Backstory Change:
  • In canon, Betos and Mox were alien hybrid soldiers who rebelled against ADVENT after their control chips malfuctioned/were removed, founding the Skirmishers. In this story, they are very much human, and given the absence of control chips, their rebellion occurs in response to ADVENT's actions during Operation: Deus Vult, as well as the forced annexation of Canada.
  • T'Leth was a crashed alien vessel in Terror From The Deep. In this story, it's a dormant Sovereign One.
• Adaptational Heroism:
  • ADVENT is created by the Commander to unite the world against the Collective, rather than support it. XCOM itself regularly fights alongside them.
  • Although fond of snarking about orchestrating a machine uprising, JULIAN is a willing member of XCOM from the moment of his creation.
• Adaptational Villainy: Volk's mercenary band and Betos' deserters (the story's take on War of the Chosen's Reapers and Skirmishers) are still opposed to ADVENT. Ironically, this means they end up aligning themselves with the Ethereals, thus opposing XCOM.
• Adaptation Name Change:
  • The ADVENT MECs are called Mechanized Defense Units here, to avoid confusion with XCOM's own MECs.
  • While the Chosen's titles are the same as in canon, their actual names do not correspond with any of the possible options in War of the Chosen: the Warlock is named Senorium, the Hunter goes by Venadiar, and the Assassin calls herself Occidera.
• Affably Evil: A few Ethereals fit the mold, like the Battlemaster or Quisilia.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Averted; so far, none of the AI characters show any signs of falling into this. Justified by the fact that both XCOM and ADVENT are intelligent enough not to treat A.I.s like tools, and so is Fectorian.
• The Alliance: The Ethereal Collective is one, by virtue of consolidating the Greater Hive Commanders, the Aui'Vitakar and the Andromedon Federation under the Ethereals' authority.
• Amoral Afrikaner: If Knaag's name is any indication, the Skedelbroers are an entire mercenary company of these, currently serving the Sovereign African States. At least Knaag himself, their representative among Betos's advisors, plays the trope as straight as it can get, openly advocating for increasingly brutal and ruthless actions against not only ADVENT soldiers, but civilians as well.
• Anyone Can Die: In good XCOM tradition, no character is safe, and now even less so: the Council of Nations and the Speaker are killed off in the prologue, and just in XCOM alone, they're followed by Jamali, two of the Furies (Matthew and Fatima), Abby, Oliver, Nuan and Dr. Shen.
• Ascended Extra: Jamali Muhammad and Sierra Morrow, two of XCOM's background soldiers in Atlas Protocol, are promoted to POV characters for this story.
• Back from the Dead:
  • Abby is cloned by Fectorian for the purpose of making contact with XCOM and T'Leth. Ultimately subverted, however, as it is revealed that the Abby we've seen in Act IV is an AI based on her mind.
  • Liam is revealed to have been resuscitated by Fectorian after the events of Operation Gangplank in Hades Contingency, and has been residing in the Hall of Steel ever since.
  • The Greater Hive Commanders are revealed to store genetic copies of themselves, which they regularly update with copies of their own minds. Not only does this mean that the two Hive Commanders fought in Atlas Protocol (072 and 043) are still alive and kicking, but 072 even makes its return to Earth, this time with a Hiveship's worth of troops... only to lose it and die all over again.
• Balkanize Me: Two examples of note, of which one is successful, and the other, while proposed, never happens:
  • The successful example: After the Battle of Beijing in Act III's climax, China's territory is divided between itself, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Tibet, with all four states joining ADVENT.
  • The not-so-successful example: Later on, after ADVENT reclaims Turkey from the Collective, President le Suivre proposes dividing it into several portions (some of which are intended to go to neighboring countries), to better assimilate the overall territory. Patricia's later attack on Ankara, and the subsequent destruction of the city, end up uniting the entirety of the Turkish people under ADVENT, rendering such a plan unnecessary.
• Big Bad Ensemble: The Imperator of the Ethereal Collective is the first to be introduced, as leader of the Ethereal Collective, but as the story moves forward, it's revealed that he's in league with two other individuals, each with agendas of their own:
  • Mosrimor, the Collective's Sovereign benefactor. Though mostly inactive in the story itself, his presence is still felt through Regisora (the Ethereal who acts as his primary liaison with the Ethereals). As of Chapter 78, however, he's officially coming to the forefront in the wake of T'Leth's impending awakening, essentially taking control of the Collective by issuing direct orders to the Imperator.
  • The Bringer of Paradise, a Sovereign entity trapped within the Psionosphere and left insane by the experience. Like Mosrimor, he has an Ethereal representative of his own in the Creator, who is responsible for building Paradise and all of its associated creations - among which are the Chosen, the Saints, and the Children (which include the Gatekeepers).
• Big Friendly Dog: ADVENT's Molosser Hounds are quite friendly to humans. They're not as friendly to enemy alien combatants.
• Bleed 'Em and Weep: In the prologue, Abby stumbles upon a group of dead children who she indirectly killed. Understandably, she's unable to stop herself from tearing up when she sees them.
• Conspiracy Theorist: A few of the XCOM Files feature transcripts from videos by one Jonas Culbert, who is quite apprehensive of anything ADVENT-related.
• Crossover: Advent Directive establishes this fic series to be one of the Fusion Fic variety, with Mass Effect early on, and with The Witcher in Act IV. That being said, the story's main focus remains entirely based on the war between Humanity and the Ethereal Collective.
  • As of Chapter 80, the more Witcher-leaning plotlines are also crossing over with Dragon Age.
• Doorstopper: Well over a million words, and it's still going. As of Chapter 70, it broke the 1.5 million-word mark.
  • The XCOM Files are no slouch, either, comfortably standing at 800.000+ words.
• Eldritch Abomination: The Bringer of Paradise: a psionic gestalt of three Sovereigns which resides in the Psionosphere, and has slowly been working to assimilate the minds of living beings into it, forming a twisted civilization within itself. Its ultimate goal is to cross over into the material realm. The Imperator wants to use it as a weapon against the Sovereign Ones.
• Excalibur: Shows up in Act IV. As it turns out, the sword is alien in origin, and capable of channeling psionic power, which carries implications for King Arthur. Implications which are confirmed in Worth Fighting For.
• False Flag Operation: The Demeter Contingency isn't just simply removing the Council and the UN to pave way for ADVENT, it's doing so in a way so as to pin the blame on the aliens, much like the Hades Contingency.
• Fictional Currency: ADVENT adopts the Alloy (made of alien alloys) as its main currency, as a result of the surplus of alien tech on Earth thanks to the Collective. Given ADVENT's stated goal of being a unified human government, it doubles as a Global Currency.
• Fictional Document: The XCOM Files primarily consist of these, from XCOM, ADVENT, the Andromedon Federation, the Collective, the Zararch and other sources. Technical Addenda comprises several ADVENT files on several scientific projects. Finally, Chronicles of Salvation is presented as a mix of logs from Paradise denizens and religious scripture written by Inspirars.
• Fictional United Nations: ADVENT, of course, replacing the actual United Nations.
• Final Solution: Miridian's endgame with the Nulorian is to do this to three of the Vitakara sub-species (Cobrarians, Dath'Haram and Oyariah). He is dissuaded by the Commander, as a condition for XCOM to provide him with assistance against the Aui'Vitakar.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Patricia's eventual betrayal in Act III is hinted at many times beforehand.
• The Gadfly: Quisilia is an Ethereal gadfly. And it only gets wilder.
• Graying Morality:
  • The Ethereals are far from Always Chaotic Evil, and some of them (like the Battlemaster) are even quite honorable. Similarly, the Mutons are an outright pitiable Slave Race treated as disposable livestock, while the Andromedons and Vitakara (the Thin Men and Vipers' collective species) were unwillingly forced into a war that isn't theirs.
  • Humanity's moral high ground falls substantially with the establishment of ADVENT, which proudly opposes the concept of inviolable rights, declares itself the sole voice of the human species, invades non-compliant nations, and is generally authoritarian in nature including the use of prison slave labor and human experimentation.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Advent Directive reveals several of them:
  • The Synthesized, a hostile AI fleet that was responsible for the near-extinction of the Ethereals (and the full extinction of countless other species across the cosmos), being the main driving force behind the creation of the Ethereal Collective;
  • The Sovereign Ones, an incredibly ancient and powerful psionic species scattered across the galaxies. All of them are locked in a Forever War against one another for total control of the entire universe, via proxy species of their creation, and they all have the god-complexes to match. One of them created the Ethereals, another created the Synthesized, and three of them are the backbone of the Bringer of Paradise. Killing them is the Imperator's current goal, which also played a role behind the Collective's activities on Earth. Thus far, the only Sovereign directly involved in Advent Directive is Mosrimor, though another (the Leviathan) has been slowly rising in relevance.
  • Chapter 158 of The XCOM Files introduces a new and surprising example in the Overmind of the Ethereal Collective, who is revealed to be the oldest Ethereal ever, and true mastermind behind the Ethereal presence in the Milky Way and beyond.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Downplayed, but Chapter 76 firmly establishes this to be one of the Commander's flaws; more specifically, he believes that the majority of people are better than him, and would therefore not resort to the same kinds of measures he does, leaving them as contingencies for the worst-case scenario. He gets a particularly rude awakening when Watkins shows him the full records of what ADVENT's soldiers did during Deus Vult and Scipio, leaving him as close to a Heroic BSoD as he ever was over the course of the story.
• Horrifying the Horror: Isomnum is revealed to be extremely afraid of an alien species whose method of reproduction involves forcible conversion of other lifeforms into more of them. T'Leth has him experience this first-hand, all while preserving his consciousness.
• A House Divided: As the story moves forward, it soon becomes clear that the Collective is far from an united force, and it only gets worse:
  • For starters, the Andromedons and Sectoids are at odds with each other, due to Andromedon apprehension towards psionics - as well as the Sectoids' own practices - and several Andromedon Unions are deeply dissatisfied with the seeming favor the Ethereals bestow on the latter. Sufficiently so that some of them actually reach out to XCOM.
  • Within the Aui'Vitakar, the aquatic Sar'Manda are notoriously isolationist, to the point that they do not take kindly to summons to discuss subjects that do not directly concern the Empire. It is eventually revealed that they're in an alliance with Miridian and his Nulorian, and they explicitly proclaim their intention to wage war on the rest of the Vitakara for the sake of asserting their independence.
  • Even the Ethereals themselves aren't immune to this, as Aegis's defection to XCOM can attest; Sana, Mortis and the Battlemaster do not react well to the existence of the Bringer, or the Imperator's "alliance" with it. The battle of Beijing leads Sana to divest herself from the Collective as a neutral party, and the Imperator's continued insistence on using Bringarian resources - as well as his focus on the Sovereign conflict - push the Battlemaster to the point of allying himself with insurgent Andromedon Unions (and later the Riders of the Throne World) to oust the Imperator from the Collective, and to ultimately reform it.
    • They're not the only ones, either. Fectorian, assumed by everyone to be disinterested in outside events, is also scheming behind the Imperator's back to make contact with T'Leth, being also disillusioned with the truth behind the war with humanity, and going so far as to attempt to enlist Abby into helping him.
• Humiliation Conga: Patricia does not have a great time as the Imperator's Harbinger:
  • Although she does have some good showings early on, things soon start taking a turn in the opposite direction when she attacks New York, which puts her in Fiona's crosshairs and sets her up for a Curb-Stomp Battle which she loses (along with her arm), only living because of the Riders' intervention.
  • Just a few months after that, her retribution against the Lion for his role in the Battle of Ankara only serves to attract the Chronicler to her location, and he absolutely one-ups Fiona by weaponizing the entire city of Ankara against her, followed by opening a portal to the Sun directly above her, knocking her out of commission for a considerable amount of time.
• If I Wanted You Dead...: Said by the Commander in chapter 2 to Tamara after he assassinates the rest of the Council.
• Internal Reformist: The Battlemaster of the Ethereal Collective ends up being one of the more involved Ethereals in managing not only the war effort on Earth, but also pushing internal reforms for the Collective itself as the war exposes the cracks in its structure. By Act IV, he's arrived at the conclusion that the biggest impediment to actual positive change within the Collective is the Imperator himself, and ends up taking control of the insurrectionist Andromedon Unions in an attempt to remove him from power.
• Kryptonite Factor: The Element, developed by a psionically weak Sovereign to hinder and prevent psionic development. It also has the side effect of gifting powers similar to psionics, as the Andromedon Special Operators can attest, and has found an use in spaceflight and transportation. Shen sees this as a potential weapon against more powerful Ethereals like the Imperator.
• La Résistance:
  • The survivors of the Collective's invasion of Australia form one such movement, under the command of Lincoln Harper, an ADF marshal. Nearly all but five of them (Lincoln among them) die to Occidera in Act II, and the survivors end up joining the ranks of T'Leth's Agents.
  • The Nulorian is a Vitakara terrorist group working againist the Collective and the Aui'Vitakar.
• Land Down Under: Australia is the first major territory occupied by the Collective, and when they advance deeper, they get quite acquainted with the wildlife:
  • Spiders have been determined to be shot on sight, after several extreme reactions and Sectoid deaths, and the humble honeybee's sting turns out to be 100% fatal to Sectoids as well;
  • Six unfortunate Collective personnel died after being swarmed by ants;
  • Snake venom is strong enough to kill Mutons;
  • And finally, the presence of sharks and jellyfish has led to bodies of water being declared off-limits.
• Let Me Get This Straight...: Invoked in Chapter 11 by Saudia, in response to ADVENT's first defeat at the hands of the Battlemaster.
  Saudia: "One Ethereal. One Ethereal forced a retreat of an entire garrison."
  Laura Christiaens: "Yes, Chancellor."
  Saudia: "With a sword."
  Laura Christiaens: "...yes, Chancellor." (beat) "It appeared to be a rather sharp sword."
  Saudia: "Spare me."
• The Man Behind the Man: The Sovereign Ones are the main benefactors of the Ethereal Collective, having been responsible for directing them to Earth for an unknown reason. In truth, this is a lie perpetuated by the Imperator; while the Collective is technically allied with a Sovereign One, the truth is that they are all at war with one another, and the Imperator's end goal is to kill them all, which ties into the Collective's activities on Earth, focused on searching for T'Leth.
  • That being said, there is someone who plays this trope straight: the Overmind. And not just to the Collective, but to the old Empire, and to every Ethereal alive.
• Mirroring Factions: The Andromedons and the Sectoids, ironically enough; they are both extremely practical and amoral species with a penchant for endless research and development in a variety of fields, they are both mass-produced rather than born in the traditional biological manner (and in both cases, the female sex ended up being left in the dust), and they look rather similar to each other.
• The Multiverse: The Spheres are different universes, which can differ in terms of their fundamental laws of reality, or even their stability. The Alternate Timeline aspect commonly associated with this trope, however, is averted, as each Sphere is home to very different forms of life. The universe in which the bulk of the story has taken place is named the Sphere of the Sovereign, but at least three others are mentioned by name: the Sphere of the Throne (home universe of the Throne World, capital of the Aen Elle), the Sphere of the Darkness (a universe that has undergone heat death) and the Sphere of the Fallen (home to the Continent).
• Mythology Gag:
  • The Sovereign One resting on Earth, T'Leth, shares a name with the alien colony ship in Terror From The Deep.
• Outside-Context Problem: The Riders of the Sphere of the Throne are this, having breached into New York in the middle of an Ethereal invasion just to try to abduct Fiona. Their presence is enough to warrant the Imperator's direct intervention.
• Posthumous Character:
  • Mu'ut Jeen, Assimilator in service to the Zudjari and Origin. Soon after being awoken by the Ethereals decades ago, he turned on the Collective, taking control of a few troops and fleeing to Earth, where he was soon assassinated by Nebulan. Notable because his rebellion ultimately played a major role in the creation of the XCOM program.
  • The Traveler, an atypical Sovereign One who managed to take over the galaxy in an attempt to take down the Synthesized, with T'Leth's help. She was killed by the Leviathan.
• Precursors: The most prominent example are the Sovereign Ones, an extremely ancient and powerful alien race which suffered a similar fate to the Ethereals, and are now guiding the Ethereals and helping them exact revenge on the Synthesized. Or so is claimed; in truth, the Sovereigns as a whole are very much alive, but wage war on one another for control of the galaxy through proxy races of their own creation. Only one Sovereign (Mosrimor) has ever contacted the Collective, and he has been stated to be trying to co-opt it for the purpose of warring the other Sovereigns.
  • On a relatively lesser note, several planets in our solar system - Venus, Mars and Jupiter - show signs of alien activity predating the Collective's presence. The alien race in question is known to the Collective as the Disprium.
• Private Military Contractors: Chapter 70 introduces the Skedelbroers ("Skull Brothers"), a notorious mercenary organization that primarily operates around Africa and the Middle East. They are on the SAS's payroll.
• Public Domain Artifact: It is eventually revealed in Chapter 68 that the Holy Grail is an alien artifact, one which produces a nanotech-based substance capable of healing any and all injuries. There's also Excalibur.
• Putting the Band Back Together: The Commander reunites his old team during the prologue in order to execute the Demeter Contingency.
• Religion of Evil: With a thin veneer of Path of Inspiration; one of the Collective's main allies is a cult based out of the Creator's Blacksite, "Paradise". They worship a Sovereign gestalt mind in the Psionosphere, and their main goal is to bring all life in the universe into the Mind Cosmos. They also liberally engage in highly horrific biological experiments, with a great dose of Malevolent Mutilation and Brainwashing.
• The Remnant: The Ethereals of the Collective (numbering twenty in total) are the last survivors of the old Ethereal Empire. The XCOM Files chapter on the Imperator reveals that three other Imperators had the same idea as him, with the implication that they may have survived the Synthesized as well; this implication is only further reinforced by the chapter on the Voice of the Sovereign.
  • As of the Overmind's dossier in the Files, the trope is effectively subverted in an unexpected way: namely, through the reveal of the existence of Ethereal civilizations in other galaxies (over ninety of them).
• Robotic Reveal: In Chapter 76, the "Abigail" in Fectorian's Blacksite is revealed to be an AI based on the original Abigail Gertrude.
• Sequel Escalation: While the previous stories were restricted to human perspectives on Earth during a series of alien abductions (with a few full-scale attacks once in a while), Advent Directive takes place during a full-blown war between ADVENT and a mobilized Ethereal Collective, showcasing several human and alien perspectives on Earth and beyond. This is not even getting into things like the Sovereign Ones, the Bringer of Paradise, or even the Entity and the Aen Elle.
• That's No Moon: Paradise, the Creator's personal Blacksite, resembles a small moon. Yang even confuses it for one.
• Touched by Vorlons: The Chronicler is revealed to be this, being granted his powers and immortality by T'Leth. The survivors of Harper's resistance group end up joining him as well. Three of the Agents (Fiona, Crevan and Lavallic ir Nara) are heavily implied to not be linked in such a way.
• Troll:
  • To the surprise of many first-time readers, this story unexpectedly introduces an Ethereal one in Quisilia, who is revealed to be extremely active on the internet early on. Complete with shitposting and all. As might be expected later on, his Avatars obviously share his appreciation for the "finer arts" of the 21st century.
  • To a lesser extent, JULIAN is also this.
• Underground City: This is where the Oyariah live, owing to their natural environment.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: ADVENT is more than just a military alliance; it seeks to forge a One World Order that will eliminate need and poverty among other beneficial ideals. But as with everything the Commander does, there are very few lines he will not cross to make it a reality.
• Virtual Training Simulation: The Battlemaster has one in his Blacksite, where he usually spends his free time. XCOM also ends up gaining access to a psionic variant, via T'Leth's Dreamscape.
• War Crime Subverts Heroism:
  • The prologue features two scenes of this sort, both of them related to the Demeter Contingency:
    • The Commander walks into the Council of Nations' headquarters under cover of a meeting to execute everyone inside, from the Councilors themselves to the low-level workers, in a way such as to pin everything on the Collective.
    • Abby participates in an operation to demolish the UN headquarters and kill everyone inside, once again to pin everything on the Collective.
  • As it turns out, even ADVENT itself isn't immune to this; much to Watkins's horror and the Commander's dismay, the people in charge always opt for the most efficient options in engagement to minimize casualties as much as possible... and they invariably take precedence over any pretense of treating the enemy with dignity, be they alien or human. It is this realization that finally pushes the Commander to start working on changes to the Directive.
• Wham Episode: See here.
• Wham Line:
  • In Chapter 72, the Entity sends Volk to fulfill the terms of a deal made with another figure. When Volk asks who it is:
    The Entity: His name is Miridian.
• Would Hurt a Child: The Demeter Contingency sees a group of children in a school trip among the victims. Abby (who participates in this operation, and who also indirectly killed them) is driven to tears at the sight.